Pressure continues in Peru to prevent left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez from running in the presidential runoff. Currently, Sánchez, of Juntos por el Perú, holds a slight lead over far-right candidate Rafael López Aliaga, who has demanded a recount in Lima and claimed that electoral fraud took place, without presenting any evidence.

Currently, with 99.984% of the votes counted, Sánchez has 12.03% of the vote, while López Aliaga has 11.9%, which, barring a statistical anomaly, confirms Sánchez as the other candidate in the runoff. Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori came in first with 17.17% and has already begun campaigning for the runoff.

Now the pressure against the leftist candidate is coming from the Peruvian Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is seeking a sentence of five years and four months, as well as a “permanent disqualification”, which would bar him from the electoral process.

Meanwhile, Peru’s National Jury of Elections (JNE) has announced that it will announce the final results from the first round on May 17, defining who will head to the run off.

Alleged document forgery

The prosecutor’s office accuses Sánchez of several crimes related to the financing of his political party between 2018 and 2020, specifically “false statements in administrative proceedings” and “document forgery”. In particular, he is accused of providing false information to the National Organization of Electoral Processes (ONPE).

The prosecutor’s office asserts that Sánchez is responsible for reporting zero income when, in reality, there were contributions totaling approximately 200,000 soles (roughly USD 60,000).

The accusations have been categorically denied by Sánchez and his team. His attorney, Carlos Garcia Asenjo, stated that Sánchez was never responsible for the financial reports, as these are prepared by the organization’s treasurer.

“The Public Prosecutor’s Office is confusing who the actual source of the party’s financial information is. The person who submits the party’s financial information—or who is responsible for preparing and reporting on the accounts—is the treasurer. What Mr. Roberto Sánchez does is take the report, write a letter stating that he is attaching the financial information prepared by the treasurer, and submit it to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE),” García Asenjo told the press.

Sánchez refutes the charges

For his part, Sánchez rejected the accusations: “I deny having made a false statement to the ONPE, since as the party’s legal representative, it was my responsibility to provide official information and documentation to those entities.”

Furthermore, he stated that the Peruvian justice system had already dismissed the charges now being brought against him and that, therefore, the prosecution’s statement has no legal basis: “I proved that I never made personal use of the party’s financial resources, and that is why the alleged fraud as a serious crime was dismissed by the judiciary through a court ruling. You cannot build a conviction on facts that have already been dismissed by the justice system itself.”

For now, it appears that Sánchez’s ability to participate in the June 7 runoff election will depend on factors other than the will of the people. Especially given that he is set to appear in court on May 27, less than two weeks before the run-off. The move by the judiciary has sparked a flood of criticism against these institutions. According to Sánchez’s supporters, these bodies are acting in this manner to prevent his participation in the election, which would favor Peru’s far-right.

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