U.S. Court orders detention of former president Alejandro Toledo for his extradition to Peru

A Court of Appeals of California, in the United States, has rejected the appeal of former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, with which he tried to delay the extradition process pending in his country, where he is to be tried for alleged crimes of corruption and influence peddling.

A week ago, the U.S. Justice already rejected his lawsuit against the U.S. State Department, in which he alleged that the Fifth Amendment had been violated -no person can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law- due to the “lack of procedural guarantees” during the extradition process requested by the Peruvian authorities.

After his appeal, the Justice again denied his request, as detailed in its report, reported by the Peruvian portal RPP: “Toledo has demonstrated the existence of irreparable damage, but not the likelihood of success on the merits or that the public interest favors the suspension. Therefore, we decline to issue a stay. The request for a stay is denied.”

Hours after the verdict, the Californian judge Thomas Hixson has given the former president a deadline to surrender himself to the authorities in San Francisco until Friday, April 7 at 09.00 local time, to begin the extradition process to Peru.

“This Court orders Alejandro Toledo to surrender himself to the marshals on April 7 at 9:00 a.m. at 450 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco,” states the court ruling, which the network above has accessed.

Peruvian authorities allege that Toledo received bribes from the construction company Odebrecht in exchange for the company being favored in the bidding of works for the Interoceanic highway, something he denies.

In total, the Prosecutor’s Office has asked for 55 years in prison, while for the Ecoteva case, it has claimed 16 years and eight months for alleged money laundering.