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Peru's Supreme Court postpones decision on Fujimori release

Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed former president Alberto Fujimori, has been detained since October 31, 2018 awaiting trial in a corruption case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht
Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed former president Alberto Fujimori, has been detained since October 31, 2018 awaiting trial in a corruption case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht
Peru's Supreme Court on Friday postponed a decision on whether to free opposition leader Keiko Fujimori from pre-trial detention in a corruption case linked to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
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Fujimori, the daughter of disgraced and jailed former president Alberto Fujimori, was herself incarcerated on October 31 last year when she was ordered to be held in pre-trial detention for up to three years.

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She is accused of accepting $1.2 million in illicit party funding from Odebrecht for her 2011 presidential campaign.

The court was due to make a decision on her possible release on Friday but said its five magistrates could not come to an agreement.

"There has been no resolution," said the court's president Hugo Principe in a session that lasted less than five minutes.

He said the court would continue to discuss Fujimori's case.

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In order to settle the case, the court's permanent chamber must appoint a sixth judge but it may take up to four months to reach an agreement, a judicial source told AFP.

Keiko, 44, was not in court but followed the brief proceedings by conference call from the Chorrillos women's prison in southern Lima.

Prosecutors have accused a total of 11 people linked to Fujimori's Popular Force party of running a criminal organization to raise funding for her 2011 campaign.

Odebrecht has admitted paying at least $29 million in bribes to Peruvian officials since 2004.

Three former presidents are being investigated over Odebrecht while a fourth, Alan Garcia, committed suicide in April after police arrived at his house to arrest him for money laundering.

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