The Justice of Peru will review the appeals to the sentence that archived the trial against Keiko Fujimori

Lima.- The Judiciary of Peru will review on May 28th the appeals that have been presented to annul a resolution that ordered the definitive dismissal of the trial against the current presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori for money laundering, due to the irregular financing of her electoral campaigns of 2011 and 2016.

The National Superior Court reported this Wednesday that the Second National Criminal Appeals Chamber will hold the hearing telematically from 10:00 local time on May 28. In that hearing, the arguments of the appeals presented by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office (State Advocacy), as well as by the implicated Mark Vito Villanella, Fujimori’s ex-husband who is still being prosecuted for this case, will be heard. According to the resolution, the court declared the appeals filed “well granted” after the Tenth National Preparatory Investigation Court resolved on January 13 the definitive dismissal of the process for money laundering and criminal organization that was being pursued against Fujimori and other high-ranking officials of his party, Fuerza Popular. We recommend reading: That court of first instance executed, in that way, a ruling of the Constitutional Court (TC) that had ordered the process for these crimes against Fujimori to be archived and indicated that only the accusation of false statements should remain in force.

The Arguments of the Prosecution and Attorney General’s Office

In that sense, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office have requested the total annulment of the first instance resolution due to alleged defects in motivation, considering that it originated in an erroneous interpretation of the TC ruling which, according to their position, only stipulated that the procedural acts from the preliminary investigation stage be set aside. Both instances consider that, for this reason, the case should return to the initial phase of investigation and not be definitively archived at the intermediate stage.

In turn, Villanella’s defense appealed the decision to continue the investigation against her and requested that she be included in the effects of the TC ruling and the judicial resolution that ordered the case to be closed.

In its resolution, the Second National Criminal Appeals Court emphasized that all parties must appear at the virtual hearing “under penalty of warning,” as it is of an “unpostponable nature.” The appeal hearing will be held a few days before the daughter and political heir of former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) disputes, on June 7th, the Presidency of Peru in a second round of elections with the leftist Roberto Sánchez, who is participating in these elections representing the imprisoned former president Pedro Castillo (2021-2022).