A court in the United States on Wednesday (April 5) rejected an appeal by former Peru president Alejandro Toledo against his extradition to Peru on corruption charges. This makes it likely that he will be the third former leader who will be jailed in Lima. On Wednesday, Peru’s Justice Minister Jose Tello said that a California judge had ordered Toledo to turn himself in to US Marshals Service on Friday and await extradition. Toledo’s request for bail was revokoed.
Toledo, who was president from 2001 to 2006, is wanted over charges that he received more than $25 million from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in exchange for help in obtaining public works contracts. Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year-and-six-month prison sentence.
Toledo denies soliciting or receiving bribes. He has not been criminally charges in the US.
“Sooner rather than later, Toledo will answer to Peruvian justice,” Tello told television station Canal N, adding that his extradition should take place in a “matter of days”.
The Peruvian minister said 77-year-old Toledo is expected to be held while he awaits trial in a jail complex in the outskirts of Lima that was built to hold former president Alberto Fujimori. Former president Pedro Castillo is also being held there.
Fujimori, who ruled from 1990 to 2000, is serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights abuses, while Castillo is being held in pre-trial detention while he is under investigation for alleged rebellion after trying to dissolve Congress in December. He denies wrongdoing.
Toledo’s defense has said it will present another appeal in the U.S., according to Tello, who called it an obvious “delaying tactic.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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