The former First Lady Nadine Heredia and her youngest son have been granted asylum in Brazil, where they flew in on a Brazilian government plane on Wednesday. This was confirmed by Peru's and Brazil's foreign ministries, which referred to an asylum agreement between the two countries from 1954.
Former President Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia were sentenced to 15 years in prison by a court on Tuesday. Humala – who was present in the courtroom – was arrested and imprisoned immediately, while his wife took refuge at the Brazilian embassy in Lima.
The two were convicted of receiving approximately 30 million kronor in illegal campaign contributions from the large corporation Odebrecht, headquartered in Brazil, and from the Venezuelan regime, in connection with the 2006 and 2011 elections.
The 62-year-old Humala is a former military officer who defeated far-right politician Keiko Fujimori in the 2011 election.
The former President and his wife were arrested as early as 2017 and were then held in prison pending trial. The two were released when the trial was delayed. It did not begin until 2022.
In addition to the two, eight more people were convicted in the corruption case on Tuesday.
Almost all of Peru's leaders since 2001 have been accused of bribery scandals and other crimes. Former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is under house arrest, while former President Alejandro Toledo is imprisoned. Alan García, who was president for two terms, committed suicide in 2019 when Peruvian police were about to arrest him due to allegations of bribes from Odebrecht.
