Sawt Falasteen - Peru prosecutors seek 30 years in jail for Keiko Fujimori

The 49-year-old daughter of ex-president Alberto Fujimori stands accused of taking money from scandal-tainted Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to fund failed presidential bids in 2011 and 2016.

She went on trial last week on charges of money laundering, organized crime, obstruction of justice and making false declarations.

Fujimori had already spent 16 months in pre-trial detention before being freed ahead of 2021 presidential elections, which she lost.

"The total sentence requested by the public prosecutor's Office for the accused Keiko Sofia Fujimori Higuchi is 30 years and 10 months of imprisonment," said prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez.

Four former Peruvian presidents have been implicated in the Odebrecht affair, including two-term leader Alan Garcia who committed suicide in 2019 when police came to his house to arrest him.

Fujimori's trial, which started on July 1 with some 1,500 names on the witness list, is expected to last more than a year.

She is charged alongside 45 others, including her ex-husband, American Mark Vito Villanella, and former members and leaders of her Popular Force party.

She has maintained her innocence.

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST