ANKARA

Former Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra was sentenced to 14 years in prison after a court found him guilty of leading a corruption scheme during his tenure as governor of the southern Moquegua region, local media reported on Wednesday.

The ruling also includes a nine-year ban on holding public office and a financial penalty.

Vizcarra, who is expected to begin serving his sentence immediately, said he plans to appeal the verdict.

“This is not justice, it is revenge,” he wrote on US social media company X, adding that “they will not break me.”

Prosecutors said the ex-president accepted more than $600,000 in bribes in exchange for awarding contracts tied to major public works projects in Moquegua.

He governed the region between 2011 and 2014 before becoming Peru’s president from 2018 to 2020.

Vizcarra, now a leading figure in the Peru First party, is one of several former Peruvian presidents facing jail time.

He joins three other ex-leaders currently imprisoned, reflecting what analysts describe as deep-rooted instability and corruption in Peru’s political landscape.

Since 2018, Peru has had six presidents, with several removed via impeachment or forced to resign amid corruption scandals.

Vizcarra himself assumed the presidency after Pedro Pablo Kuczynski stepped down in 2018 amid allegations of attempting to buy congressional votes and scrutiny over his ties to the Odebrecht bribery scandal.

His presidency lasted less than three years before he was impeached in 2020 on grounds of “moral incapacity” over allegations tied to the same bribery scheme for which he has now been sentenced.

He has denied all accusations, asserting that both his impeachment and prosecution were politically motivated.

In a separate statement, he said he was being punished “for facing the mafioso pact” and expressed confidence that Peruvian voters would respond in the next election.

He noted that his brother, Mario Vizcarra, is likely to run for the presidency in 2026 and “will continue the fight.”

“They’ve removed me from office. They’ve barred me from holding public office. They’ve expelled me from my party. And now they’re throwing me in jail,” he wrote, asking: “Are they so afraid of Vizcarra?”