Former president of Peru Alejandro Toledo submitted this Monday a request for pardon to the Directorate of the Barbadillo Penitentiary Establishment, where he has been held since 2023 after being extradited from the United States, with the aim of obtaining a presidential benefit while the appeals of the sentences issued against him remain pending.
The information was confirmed by his lawyer, Carlos Torres Caro, who told the newspaper El Comercio that he received authorization from the former president to manage the request before President José María Balcázar.
Currently, Toledo is serving two sentences issued in the first instance.
In the Odebrecht case, he was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison for the crimes of collusion and money laundering, while in the Ecoteva case he received a sentence of 13 years and four months for money laundering.
Both rulings were appealed and are under review by the Supreme Court, so they are not yet final.
According to documents released by the Peruvian media, the former head of state signed on Monday the document in which he informed that he decided to formally authorize his defense to request the presidential benefit.
“I have decided to authorize my lawyer, Dr. Carlos Alberto Torres Caro, to request the presidential pardon in my favor. I am still waiting for Law 32181 to be applied (I am over 81 years old), something that should happen within a month; a year has already passed and the Supreme Court neither qualifies nor sets the hearing date and I am still waiting,” he said.
In the document, Toledo argues that the criminal proceedings against him have greatly exceeded the reasonable time limits established by law and that, since there is no final sentence, he maintains the legal status of defendant, a situation that – in his opinion – justifies granting the benefit.
The former president also appealed to humanitarian reasons, stating that his health has deteriorated during his time in prison.
“My health has seriously deteriorated in prison. Doctors have warned me that a heart attack or stroke could happen at any time. Time is running against me. I ask that a right already contemplated by law be applied to me, so that I can live my last days with dignity,” he expressed.
Toledo also stated that his request “is not an act of surrender, but an act of justice,” and urged the authorities to evaluate his case with “objectivity and humanity”
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