São Paulo, Brazil — Two former Peruvian presidents have been sentenced to jail in the space of 24 hours. Martín Vizcarra, who held Peru’s highest office from 2018 to 2020, was handed a sentence of 14 years in jail for corruption charges on Wednesday. The next day, Pedro Castillo, who governed Peru between 2021 and 2022, was sentenced to 11 years, five months and 15 days in prison for conspiring to launch a coup three years ago.
Vizcarra was convicted for accepting US$676,000 in bribes from construction companies between 2011 and 2014, when he served as the governor of Moquegua, a state located in southern Peru. The ex-President reportedly granted corporations large public contracts in exchange for the cash.
As well as being sentenced to prison time, Vizcarra is also barred from occupying any public office for nine years and will have to pay back all the money he accepted in bribes. The fine “must be paid together with the third parties civilly responsible in this process”, wrote the Cuarto Juzgado Penal Colegiado Nacional, referring to the companies involved in the scandal.
Vizcarra was condemned by the majority of the justices on the court with one dissenting vote from judge Andy Rodriguez, who said the ex-president should get 11 years instead of 14. Prosecutors had requested a 15-year jail term and the sentence still needs to be confirmed by a higher court.
In a video shared on social media before being sentenced, Vizcarra sent a “message to the country” regarding the process: “I am about to hear the sentence from the Judiciary that they will issue against me. If the judges exercise their rights, objectivity, and impartiality, they will vote and issue an acquittal for me. But they have allowed themselves to be pressured by the mafia-like power that dominates Congress, the executive branch, and also the judiciary; I will surely receive a condemnatory sentence,” stated the former president.
The next day, the country’s Special Penal Court announced its ruling in the case against Pedro Castillo, a rural union leader elected in 2021 who attempted to stage a coup in 2022 amidst ongoing investigations into his involvement with corruption in bidding processes and public works. In an attempt to avoid impeachment, Castillo tried to partially dissolve Congress, govern through executive decrees, and call for new elections, which did not happen. The Peruvian Congress had attempted to remove him from office at least twice before the coup attempt.
On Thursday, the court condemned Castillo by two votes to one but stopped short of granting the prosecution’s requested sentence of 34 years in prison, instead handing him an 11-year sentence. Castillo has been held at the Barbillo prison in Lima since December 2022 and his full sentence is scheduled to be read on December 4.
The convictions add Vizcarra and Castillo to the list of former Peruvian presidents with criminal convictions, joining Alejandro Toledo (2001 – 2006) and Ollanta Humala (2011-2016).
Featured image: Pedro Castillo and Martín Vazcarra, Peru’s former presidents.
Featured image credit: Presidencia Perú
