US justice ruled that Alejandro Toledo can be extradited to Peru

The justice of United States decided on Tuesday that the former president Alejandro Toledo Manrique can be extradited to Peru, Where is accused of corruption for the Odebrecht case.

The American magistrate Thomas hixson I certify that Alejandro Toledo he can be extradited to Peru, after finding sufficient evidence to justify this measure.

With the approval of American justice, it will now depend on the US Secretary of State, Antoine Blink, make the final decision on the extradition or not of the former Peruvian president, after a process which lasted more than two years.

“The court has considered the evidence of the existence of a criminal act and considers it sufficient to support the charges of criminal conspiracy and money laundering ”San Francisco-based Northern District Court Judge Thomas Hixson wrote in his resolution.

ALEJANDRO TOLEDO AUDITION

The Friday September 24 Judge Thomas S. Hixson of the Northern District Court of California assessed the extradition request against the former president Alejandro Toledo Manrique for the case Odebrecht.

The hearing, which was held via the Zoom platform after an agreement between prosecutors and the defense of the former president, took place in the presence of prosecutor Rebeca Haciski, Alejandro Toledo and his lawyer Graham Archer.

During the session, Haciski rejected the evidence presented by Toledo, stating that it was neither relevant nor admissible.

For its part, The judge clarified that it was a hearing to determine probable cause, where the facts and the classification of crimes are assessed, for which Toledo is invited to return to Peru to be tried.

Likewise, probable cause assesses the evidence that exists to date and has been presented in the United States court, through the Department of Justice.

The lawyer in the Lava Jato case, Silvana Carrion, who visited the United States, clarified that the former president’s lawsuit for alleged bribes he allegedly received from the Brazilian construction company for the interoceanic highway only matches Peruvian authorities.

TOLEDO CASE

Toledo Manrique was arrested on July 16, 2019 in United States During the first months of the extradition process, he was held in Santa Rita Prison and Maguire Remand Center, as there was a risk of escape.

However, with the onset of the pandemic, he was released on March 20, 2020 to serve a house arrest sentence. The ex-president is obliged to wear a shackle.

Peruvian justice awaits the extradition of Toledo Manrique must be prosecuted for alleged bribes of $ 35 million he allegedly received from construction company Odebrecht in exchange for the allocation and execution of sections 2 and 3 of the South interoceanic highway during his government.

The extradition treaty between the two countries that the judge examined and under which it is possible to proceed to the surrender of Toledo to the Peruvian authorities was signed on July 26, 2001, just two days before Toledo acceded to the presidency of Peru. .

OTHER EXTRADITIONS

The lawyer in the Lava Jato case, Silvana Carrión, pointed out a few days ago that the coordination carried out in the United States with the Peruvian Embassy and the law firm mandated by Peru for the extradition of Mariella Huerta Minaya and Gustavo Salazar, fugitives in the Odebrecht case.

The working meetings were held in collaboration with prosecutors Rafael Vela and José Domingo Pérez, from the special team of Lava Jato, in charge of the investigations into this case.

Carrión said that Mariella Huerta Minaya was under investigation for the concession of section 2 of line 1 of the Lima metro, while Salazar Delgado for the alleged payment of bribes for the works of Vía Expresa del Cusco.

“They are fugitives, the United States is there, the Department of Justice is evaluating these two extradition requests, we have met with the Peruvian embassy and the law firm mandated by the Peruvian state for extradition cases .“, He said.

(With information from the Andean Agency)

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