He Judiciary This Wednesday he sentenced the former president Martin Vizcarra to 14 years of imprisonment for the crimes of passive bribery in the emblematic cases of Lomas de Ilo and Hospital de Moquegua.
The constitutional lawyer Aníbal Quiroga argued Peru21 that the referee’s decision did not come as a surprise to those who have followed the judicial process closely.
“There was a consensus that the issue was defined by the significant burden of proof. From the first moment the sentence began to be read, it was obvious that there was going to be a conviction, because the defense arguments were being discarded and the prosecution’s arguments were being accepted,” he stated.
As Quiroga explained, the reading of the sentence showed a clear line: the Court rejected Vizcarra’s allegations one by one, while validating the tax thesis that indicated illicit payments made during the aforementioned works.
For the specialist, this ruling represents “an important milestone”, not only because of the political stature of the convicted person, but because it reaffirms that corruption from the highest positions of the State can and should be sanctioned.
“The president of the association has highlighted a crime of corruption, a crime against the State by an author who was the regional president,” stressed the lawyer, who highlighted the symbolic impact that this statement will have in future similar cases.
The former president, in addition, had already accumulated three disqualifications from exercising public office. With the new sentence, Quiroga explained that it is “foreseeable that the penalty will be effective to prevent a possible escape,” given the weight of the sentence and the seriousness of the proven facts.
“From prison he cannot do anything, because there is already a regime of physical detention that prevents him from having any type of civic, political or public participation,” he added, referring to the limitations that Vizcarra will face during his confinement.
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