Former Peruvian president returns home to face corruption charges

By Sinan Dogan

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo arrived in his country on Sunday after extradition from the US.

Toledo, who is accused of corruption, arrived in the capital Lima.

He was sentenced to 18 months of preventive imprisonment and sent to Barbadillo Prison, where he will stay with former Presidents Alberto Fujimori and Petro Castillo.

Justice Minister Jose Tello told the press that the former president will be kept in Barbadillo after undergoing necessary health checks.

Toledo surrendered at a courthouse in San Jose, California, on Friday for extradition after a judge dismissed his last appeal.

Toledo, 77, has been wanted by the Peruvian justice authorities since 2018 for allegedly having received more than $25 million from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in exchange for help in obtaining public works contracts.

The former president, who served from 2001 to 2006, denied the accusations and filed several petitions to block the extradition that Washington authorized in February.

Toledo was detained in California from July 2019 until March 2020, when he was placed under house arrest.

This is not the first time that Peruvian former heads of state have gone to jail. Four other ex-presidents are facing prosecution for corruption including Ollanta Humala, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Martin Vizcarra, and Pedro Castillo.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar