Peru's constitutional court overturns ex-president Humala's 15-year sentence, orders his release

Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala was released from prison on Friday evening after the Constitutional Court overturned his 2025 conviction for money laundering. The court declared the entire criminal proceedings null and void, ruling that the acts for which he was sentenced did not constitute a crime at the time they occurred.

The ruling centers on Humala's 2006 and 2011 election campaigns. Prosecutors had accused him and his wife Nadine Heredia of receiving $3 million from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and $200,000 from the government of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. A lower court convicted Humala in April 2025, sentencing him to 15 years.

Se ha resuelto declarar la nulidad de todo el proceso penal seguido contra Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso.

The Constitutional Court found that the specific crime of "patrimonial reception" within money laundering was only incorporated into Peruvian law in November 2016, years after the campaign contributions were made. Applying it retroactively, the court argued, violated the principle of penal legality. The court further stated there was insufficient evidence that Humala knew, or could have presumed, the illicit origin of the funds.

The legal reasoning

The court's argument mirrors one it used in a previous high-profile case. In October of last year, it archived a money laundering investigation into current President Keiko Fujimori, ruling that irregular campaign contributions could not be classified under the later-introduced crime. The vote in Humala's case was not unanimous: five magistrates voted in favor of the habeas corpus petition, while two opposed it.

Espero que esa sala pueda discutirlo. En realidad, solo tiene que cumplir este mandato y disponer la libertad del señor Humala.

Humala's defense team, which filed the habeas corpus petition in January, argued that the conviction violated his right to personal liberty.

Humala's co-defendants

Humala's wife, former First Lady Nadine Heredia, was also convicted and sentenced to 15 years in 2025. However, she never served time. She sought and received political asylum from the government of Brazilian President Lula, with the approval of then-Peruvian President Dina Boluarte's administration, and has since resided in São Paulo with the couple's youngest son. Her departure generated significant controversy. The couple's two older daughters have been studying abroad for four years.

Both Humala and Heredia had previously spent time in pre-trial detention from July 2017 to May 2018 during the same investigation.

The Odebrecht legacy

Humala was one of four Peruvian presidents implicated in the sprawling Odebrecht corruption scandal. Alejandro Toledo, president from 2001 to 2006, was sentenced last year to more than 20 years for taking $35 million in bribes. Alan García, who served two non-consecutive terms, died by suicide in 2019 as police arrived to arrest him on related charges. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, in office from 2016 to 2018, faces an ongoing investigation over millions in payments from Odebrecht during his prior government role, which he maintains were legal.

Humala will be the first former Peruvian president convicted in connection with the Lava Jato scandal in Peru to be freed by a judicial decision.

Fujimori reacts

President Keiko Fujimori addressed the ruling during a working visit to Chongos Bajo in the Junín region, calling for respect for the court's independence.

Vivimos en un Estado de derecho y las resoluciones se deben respetar, nos gusten o no. A mí, en lo personal, hace cerca de ocho años me tocó afrontar una resolución dolorosísima: me privaron de la libertad y, a través de mi defensa legal, pudimos obtener resoluciones favorables.

Fujimori added that she could disagree with the ruling but was obliged to respect it, and suggested the Public Ministry had not done a good job, leading to the court's decision. Her own case, involving accusations of leading a criminal organization and receiving illicit funds from Odebrecht for her 2011 and 2016 campaigns, was archived by the same court in June of this year.