As vote counts nears end, Peru prosecutor seeks custody for Keiko Fujimori

A Peruvian prosecutor asked a court Thursday to order preventive custody for presidential hopeful Keiko Fujimori, who is accused of corruption and trailing in the final tallying of votes cast in elections Sunday.

Prosecutor José Domingo Pérez asked an organised crime court to revoke Fujimori's parole and remand her in custody for allegedly having met with a witness in a pending corruption case against her.

The right-wing populist politician is accused of having taken money from scandal-tainted Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to fund previous presidential bids in 2011 and 2016. 

She denies the charges, but spent 16 months in pre-trial detention in the lead-up to Sunday's run-off presidential election in which she faced off against far-leftist Pedro Castillo.

With more than 99 percent of ballots counted, Castillo leads narrowly with 50.2 percent to Fujimori's 49.8 percent.

She has made allegations of voter fraud involving about half-a-million ballots.

Fujimori, 46, was legally allowed to contest the election as she had not been convicted of a crime.

Under Peruvian law, an election victory would see the charges suspended until after her term, but defeat would see her go to trial.

Prosecutors have said they would seek a 30-year jail term for Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former president Alberto Fujimori, himself convicted of corruption and of ordering death squad massacres.

Domingo Pérez said Thursday that Fujimori had made contact with a witness named Miguel Torres Morales in breach of her parole terms.

– TIMES/AFP