Peruvian courts reject former president's political persecution claim

Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-03 15:29:04|Editor: Xiang Bo
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LIMA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian courts on Monday rejected former president Alejandro Toledo's appeal to stop his extradition to Peru from the United States.

Through its official Twitter account, the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) of Lima said that the Third Criminal Chamber for Free Defendants declared the "habeas corpus" appeal from the former president's lawyer to be inadmissible.

In the appeal, Toledo also accused another former Peruvian president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, of political persecution during his administration from 2016 to 2018.

The courts decided that the appeal did not substantiate the claim of political persecution and that the extraction request did not breach his constitutional rights.

Toledo, who served as the country's president between 2001 and 2006, is facing prosecution for allegedly accepting 20 million U.S. dollars of bribes from Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht, to favor the company when awarding the construction of the Interoceanic Highway between Peru and Brazil.

Toledo is currently considered a fugitive in the United States as he is subject to an 18-month preventative detention order in Peru as part of the investigation in the Odebrecht case.

The Odebrecht scandal, which has shaken nations across Latin America, also involves two other former Peruvian presidents, Alan Garcia and Ollanta Humala.

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