Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo went to the San José courthouse on Friday morning in California to be formally imprisoned by American justice before his extradition to Peru, where he is accused of corruption.
Mr Toledo, 77, arrived at 9:15 a.m. local time, a court official told AFP.
The Peruvian justice claims him because he is suspected of having received tens of millions of dollars from the Brazilian construction group Odebrecht, at the heart of a vast scandal in South America, in exchange for obtaining public contracts.
The politician, who ruled Peru from 2001 to 2006, had left his residence in Menlo Park a little earlier accompanied by his lawyer and his wife, in simple jeans and sneakers, according to videos posted on social networks.
A large number of media were waiting for him at the entrance to the court where he was supposed to go, but Mr. Toledo dodged them and entered discreetly through a back door.
On Wednesday, a judge in San Francisco ordered his imprisonment, after the rejection the day before by an appeals court of yet another appeal to prevent his extradition.
It was authorized by Washington in February, and has been long awaited by Peruvian justice: Lima has been demanding it since 2018.
The extradition process is expected to take less than a week, judicial sources told AFP. The ex-president faces up to 20 years in prison in Peru.
Mr. Toledo must remain “in an appropriate prison” until he is handed over to Peruvian authorities, according to the decision of San Francisco judge Thomas Hixson.
“We are prepared to transfer Dr. Toledo to Peru to comply with the court order,” federal prosecutor Kyle Waldinger said this week.
The ex-president was arrested in 2019 in the United States, where he resided after working at Stanford University. Initially imprisoned, he was then placed under house arrest at his home in San Francisco, with the obligation to wear an electronic bracelet.
Prosecuted for corruption and money laundering in Peru, Mr. Toledo maintains his innocence. One of his former collaborators as well as a former representative of the construction giant Odebrecht claim that he received money from the group.
Odebrecht has admitted to paying bribes in Brazil and other Latin American countries in connection with the Lava Jato scandal, for which dozens of Latin American politicians and businessmen are in prison .
Mr. Toledo is part of a list of former Peruvian heads of state prosecuted or convicted of corruption in various cases: Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-2018 ), Martin Vizcarra (2018-2020) and Pedro Castillo (2021-2022).
21/04/2023 23:29:35 – San José (United States) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
