On Tuesday, a Peruvian court will hold the preliminary hearing of the trial against the former right-wing presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, who could be sentenced to 30 years in prison for the alleged crime of money laundering and other corruption charges.
This phase will be initiated by Víctor Zúñiga Urday, at the head of the Fourth National Criminal Investigation Court Specialized in Organized Crime, after concluding the intermediate stage where the complaint against Fujimori and 41 other people was examined.
According to a resolution of the Judicial Power, spread for the Republic, the prosecutor José Domingo Pérez, of the Lava Jato special team, will be summoned, and the lawyers of the accused must participate in a mandatory manner. Fujimori, however, will not go to court.
What is investigated?
On March 11, Pérez requested a sentence of 30 years and 10 months in prison against the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori for the crimes of money laundering, organized crime, obstruction of justice and false declaration in administrative proceedings.
This decision is related to the ‘cocktails’ case, events organized by the right-wing Popular Force party to supposedly finance the presidential campaign of the former candidate in 2011 and 2016. However, the investigations suggest that these activities have been a facade to introduce company contributions, including the Brazilian Odebrecht.
In fact, Odebrecht executives confessed to Peruvian prosecutors that they illegally distributed millions of dollars between Fujimori and four former presidents, including the late Alan García.
For this case, Fujimori, who denies the charges, served preventive detention for almost a year and a half, which was lifted in April 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. The judges determined that although the The investigation had support and elements that corroborate his accusation in money laundering, “the suspicion of guilt” was not enough by itself to dictate preventive detention.
At that time, it was established that he could not leave his city of residence or move house “without prior authorization.” In addition, he had to appear every 30 days.
What will happen?
In this phase of the investigation, the judge will evaluate the accusation of the Lava Jato prosecutor and decide whether to accept it in whole or in part. The estimated time to make the decision can be days or weeks.
Previously, Zúñiga Urday issued an appearance with restrictions against Fujimori’s lawyer, Giulliana Loza Ávalos, and others investigated for alleged obstruction of justice if.
Last June, in the midst of counting the votes for the second presidential round, Pérez asked Zúñiga Urday to revoke the summons with restrictions that had been issued against the then candidate and to order her preventive detention, because there would have been Failed to comply with the judicial decision not to communicate with the witnesses who would be part of the investigation. This request was declared “unfounded” by the magistrate.
The right-winger, who aspired to win the presidency of Peru in the last elections – what would have given him immunity during the five years of his mandate -, he would have maintained communication with the witness Miguel Torres Morales, who would be part of the investigation into the alleged illegal financing of the candidate when he launched his campaigns in 2011 and 2016.
Last week it was learned that the Public Ministry withdrew from the appeal it filed against the decision of a jury that denied ordering preventive detention against Fujimori.
