The United States Justice has decided to maintain the house arrest under which the former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo and his wife are, since “the deterioration of their physical condition further mitigates the risk of flight” until the extradition request is resolved in the framework of the Odebrecht corruption case.
Federal Judge Thomas S. Hixson has thus rejected prosecutor Rebeca Haciski’s request for Toledo to re-enter prison.
“The Court considers that the deterioration in the physical condition of Toledo and his wife further mitigates the risk of flight. Both need continuous medical treatment, and are in a stable life situation in which they can obtain it, “Hixson argued, according to the ruling to which” La República “has had access.
In addition, he has specified that their “flight to another country would alter this situation for them, especially since Toledo’s first stop in another country as an international fugitive could well be jail. In these circumstances, and although the risk of Toledo fleeing can never be fully mitigated, the Court believes that his release on bail is justified. “
Toledo, accused in Peru of several crimes of corruption within a plot for which he would have received some 35 million dollars (about 30 million euros) in bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in exchange for privileges in bidding contests for public works, was arrested in the United States in 2019, but has been out on bail since March 2020.
Hixson, a federal judge in the state of California , decided at the end of September that Toledo can be extradited to his country, taking into account that “the evidence of criminality” due to his connection to the Odebretch case “is sufficient to support the charges of bribery and money laundering. of capital under the provisions of the extradition treaty between the United States and the Republic of Peru.
Toledo , 75, has always denied the accusations and has assured that he never received any bribes, but that they ended up at the hands of Josef Maiman, whom he accuses of having acted falsely on his behalf to receive that money.
President of Peru between 2001 and 2006, he was arrested in 2019 at his residence in Silicon Valley, California. Toledo is part of the string of former Peruvian presidents – such as the late Alan GarcÃa, Ollanta Humala, or Pedro Pablo Kuczynski – allegedly corrupted by Odebrecht within the media plot of Lava Jato, whose networks extend throughout Latin America.
Peruvian prosecutor José Domingo Pérez has requested 20 years and six months in prison for the former president for the crimes of collusion and money laundering, although the accusation will be reviewed on October 21.
