The Peruvian Public Prosecutor’s Office asked on Friday (12.03.2021) for 18 months of pre-trial detention for former Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra (2018-2020), as part of his investigation into the complaint that he received bribes from construction companies when he was governor of the southern region of Moquegua, between 2011 and 2014.
The measure was requested by anti-corruption prosecutor Germán Juarez before Judge María de los Angeles Alvarez, who will soon have to make a decision on the matter, according to local media.
Vizcarra is investigated for allegedly receiving a total of 2.3 million suns (about $647,000) between 2013 and 2014, when he was governor of Moquegua, allegedly construction companies that were in charge of the works of a regional hospital and an irrigation project.
Research and crisis
Prosecutor Juárez, who is part of the team investigating the Lava Jato case in Peru, opened a preliminary investigation last October against Vizcarra, who at the time was president of the country, for the alleged commission of crimes of bribery and collusion in state grievance.
At the time, Vizcarra said that he respected the independence of powers and that he would abide by the determinations of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
However, after local media provided details of these accusations, the opposition-dominated Congress subjected Vizcarra to a political trial and eventually dismissed him from the head of state on 9 November for “moral incapacity.”
That decision led to massive protests in the country against the take-in, on November 10, by then-President Manuel Merino, who resigned from office five days later, following the brutal crackdown on demonstrations in Lima, which left two dead and hundreds wounded.
On November 17, the Peruvian presidency was assumed by the lawmaker Francisco Sagasti, who leads a transitional government until July 28, when he must hand over power to the representative who will be elected in the general elections of April 11.
