Overview
- Peru's Supreme Court and Constitutional Tribunal definitively archived the 'Cócteles' case, holding that 2006 and 2011 campaign contributions did not constitute money laundering under the laws then in force.
- Speaking from Barbadillo prison, Ollanta Humala questioned why he remains jailed as he reaches nine months in custody on January 15 and seeks relief from a 15-year sentence tied to his 2006 and 2011 campaigns.
- His attorney, César Nakazaki, calls him an arbitrarily detained person and asserts the high-court decisions set binding precedent for judges overseeing comparable proceedings.
- Legal specialists cited in new reports caution that the ruling does not automatically extend to other cases and that each file must be evaluated on its specific facts.
- The legal debate centers on distinguishing bribery, which remains prosecutable, from electoral donations that courts say were not covered by money-laundering statutes at the time.