Peruvian justice declared unfounded an order from the prosecution to disqualify the right-wing Popular Force party for 30 months in a lawsuit for alleged illegal contributions of the Brazilian company Odebrecht, which kept its candidate Keiko in the running race Fujimori.
“We have just received notification. There is no suspension in the Popular Force. Our presidential plate, our candidates for Congress and the Andean Parliament, our militants and supporters throughout Peru are moving forward to rescue our country again,” he said. announce Keiko on her social network Twitter account.
The eldest daughter and political heiress of former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) stressed that “this decision strengthens democracy” and allows her party to “participate on equal terms.”
“Let the people decide,” he said after describing the order of prosecutor José Domingo Pérez, who has been investigating it for more than three years, as arbitrary.
Judge Víctor Zúñiga concludes in a 44-page error that “declares unfounded the request for suspension of activities of the political party Força Popular”.
The decision eliminates the threats faced by Fujimori in the run-up to the April 11, 2021 presidential and legislative elections.
With an adverse ruling, Fujimoriism would have been prevented from competing.
Prosecutors sought to clear the way for further investigations into Keiko, 45, and his entourage for allegedly receiving illegal campaign contributions from Odebrecht.
Keiko aspires for the third time to the presidency, after losing to the ballot in 2011 and 2016.
The prosecutor in the case argues that a criminal organization was formed within the People’s Force to gain political power and receive illicit money.
“We are asking for this suspension because the person currently exercising (…) the representation and presidency of the party is Keiko Fujimori, who was aware of the illegality of the money that was entering this organization,” the prosecutor said on 30 November when placing your order.
Keiko, who was in pretrial detention for 16 months for this case, denies having received illegal money for his 2011 and 2016 campaigns.
The Odebrecht case also sprinkles four former Peruvian rulers.
In a recent interview with AFP, Keiko stated that “this suspension order, if granted, is in fact what it grants is a death penalty to the party.”
Keiko’s father, now 82, is serving a 25-year sentence for corruption and crimes against humanity in his government.
Fujimori has been a gravitational force since 1990 but has lost influence and had no role in the crisis that led Peru to have three presidents in a few days: Martín Vizcarra (in power between March 2018 and November 9 ), Manuel Merino (who ruled for five days) and Francisco Sagasti, the current president.