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Peru’s former president, Ollanta Humala, was released from prison on Friday after the country’s Constitutional Court overturned his 15-year prison sentence for money laundering linked to the sprawling Odebrecht corruption scandal.
Humala, a former army officer who served as president from 2011 to 2016, left a prison in Lima under police escort at about 7:40 p.m. local time (0040 GMT Saturday), where he was greeted by supporters celebrating his release.
The 64-year-old became the first former Peruvian president to stand trial in connection with the Odebrecht bribery scheme, one of Latin America’s largest corruption scandals.
Three other former Peruvian leaders have also been implicated in the case.
Before his release, Humala had been serving his sentence at a special prison on a police base designated for former presidents convicted of corruption-related offences.
Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were found guilty of accepting illicit campaign contributions from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and the Venezuelan government during two presidential election campaigns.
Speaking to journalists after regaining his freedom, Humala maintained his innocence.
“We have been victims of political and judicial persecution,” he said.
Heredia, meanwhile, remains in Brazil after seeking asylum there following her conviction.
The Constitutional Court annulled Humala’s conviction in a decision published on Thursday, clearing the way for his release.
The Odebrecht scandal has reverberated across Latin America since 2016, when the Brazilian construction conglomerate admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to politicians and public officials across the region in exchange for lucrative government contracts.
As part of a settlement with authorities, the company agreed to pay $3.5 billion in penalties.
In Peru, Odebrecht acknowledged paying at least $29 million in bribes to public officials between 2005 and 2014, ensnaring several high-profile political figures and former presidents in one of the country’s biggest corruption investigations.
