Politician jailed while awaiting graft trial

A judge in Peru has ordered that opposition leader Keiko Fujimori spend three years in jail while she awaits trial for corruption. A BBC News report notes that Judge Richard Concepción said there was a high risk of Fujimori fleeing Peru. Fujimori has been accused of taking $1.2m in bribes from the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in 2011. She denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are politically motivated. Concepción said there was a ‘serious suspicion’ that Fujimori was managing a ‘de facto criminal organisation that is entrenched within’ her Popular Force political party. Earlier this year, former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned in a scandal linked to the Odebrecht case. Fujimori, who was in court, was taken into custody by police after the judge's ruling. Her lawyer is expected to appeal against the verdict, the report states. Fujimori's father, 80-year-old former President Alberto Fujimori, is serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights abuses.

Full BBC News report