Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has been released after the nation's Constitutional Court overturned his 15-year prison sentence in a case tied to the cross-border corruption scandal involving Brazil's construction giant Odebrecht.
Humala, 64, had been serving his term at a special detention facility east of Lima that houses several former Peruvian leaders. He and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were convicted of money laundering last year for receiving illegal contributions from Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, and Venezuela's government during two presidential campaigns. Heredia later received asylum in Brazil.
The Constitutional Court's ruling, issued on Thursday (July 17), stated: "It has been decided to declare all criminal proceedings against Ollanta Moises Humala Tasso null and void."
Humala, a former army officer who led Peru from 2011 to 2016, was the first ex-leader of the country to face trial in the Odebrecht graft scandal, which also implicated three other former presidents.
He had filed a habeas corpus petition, a legal request asking the court to determine whether his detention was unlawful. The Constitutional Court declared the petition "well-founded," finding that he was sentenced for conduct that did not constitute money laundering under the law in effect when he received the campaign contributions.
The former president's lawyer, Wilfredo Pedraza, said his side received the ruling "with considerable satisfaction."
In 2016, Odebrecht agreed to pay $3.5 billion in fines after shelling out $788 million in bribes to foreign leaders and officials to win infrastructure projects across Latin America. Odebrecht admitted to paying at least $29 million in bribes to Peruvian officials between 2005 and 2014.
