Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala Released After Court Annuls Conviction

Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala was released from prison on Friday evening after the country's Constitutional Court overturned his 15 year sentence for money laundering. Humala, who served as president from 2011 to 2016, had been detained since April 2025 at a special facility in eastern Lima. The court annulled the entire criminal proceeding after finding that the campaign contributions he received did not constitute the crime of money laundering under the laws in place at the time the acts occurred. The court cited violations of the principles of legality and tipicity in its ruling.

Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were originally convicted of laundering illegal campaign contributions from the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, and the Venezuelan government. Specifically, prosecutors alleged the couple hid 3 million dollars from Odebrecht during the 2011 campaign and diverted nearly 200,000 dollars sent by former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez during a 2006 campaign. While Humala has been released, Nadine Heredia remains in Brazil, where she was granted asylum by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Her lawyer stated she will only return to Peru if the case against her is definitively archived.

Upon his release, Humala spoke to journalists and supporters, claiming he was a victim of political and judicial persecution. He stated that he had been kidnapped by the state and that the charges were motivated by his political ideology and administration. The Odebrecht scandal was a wide reaching investigation that affected multiple Latin American countries and involved several other former Peruvian presidents. The Brazilian company admitted in 2016 to paying millions of dollars in bribes and illegal donations to officials in Peru to secure infrastructure projects.