In view of the possibility of former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo's escape, the U.S. justice ratified the detention of the accused of embezzlement and money laundering. The detention was determined last July 2019 by Judge Thomas Hixson, an expert in intellectual property and competition law. However, the defense had requested the review of the measure, before which the judge of the court in San Francisco (United States) denied the reconsideration.
The argument put forward by the judicial authority is the risk of Toledo crossing the country's borders.Hixson said the former president has woven a wide network of contacts and connections with high-ranking people, which could help him escape to Israel. According to Hixson, the former president has woven a wide network of contacts and connections with high-ranking people, which could help him escape to Israel. The next hearing in the case will be held on October 17 of this year.
For his part, Graham Archer, the defense attorney, dismissed his client's fear of absconding.Toledo was not considered for this possibility even when he had better financial conditions than the current ones and his passport was valid. In addition to the review of the precautionary measure, the defense attorney has presented arguments in disagreement with the conditions of his client's detention, denouncing that he is in solitary confinement, without any type of contact except for prison officials. The Law requests his client's release on bail and monitoring through a GPS system.
How the process against former President Toledo began
Extradition is a judicial process that is characterized by the request of a State to return a criminal defendant to the country. It requires an international arrest warrant to be issued for the purpose of prosecution in the requesting country and is subject to international treaty regulations and the laws of each country, so it is usually an exhaustive and time-consuming procedure.
The process of extradition of former Peruvian president started in May 2018, when the Public Prosecutor's Office of that country requested to the US government the return of Toledo, who was residing at the time in the North American country. The reason for the extradition is centered on the accusation of receiving more than 20 million dollars in bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. The sentence imposed by the Peruvian justice system could involve 16 years and eight months in prison.
The case has been supported by the confession of the defendant's main front manPeruvian-Israeli businessman Josef Mainman, who claimed to have received (at Toledo's request) deposits of more than 21 million dollars from the companies Odebrecht and Camargo Correa, in exchange for the concession of road infrastructure construction works in Peru.
Peru and the United States are among the countries that have formalized their participation in the extradition agreements.The collaboration of the authorities in these cases tends to be more fluid and solid. Countries belonging to the Organization of American States (OAS), including Peru and Venezuela, adopted an inter-American convention on extradition. In this document, nations commit themselves to hand over to other signatory countries, upon request, persons who are wanted for prosecution, as well as persons who have been indicted, convicted or sentenced to imprisonment.
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