The Constitutional Court (TC) will hear the habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Cerron, who is also the secretary general of the “Peru Libre” (Free Peru) party, this Wednesday.

He has been in hiding for more than two years to avoid a prison sentence for alleged corruption charges that he considers part of a political and judicial persecution.

The petition requests the annulment of the current arrest warrant against Cerron so that he can run on equal terms in the electoral process.

Cerron’s lawyer, Humberto Abanto, argued that his client was convicted for a contract to build an airport in the city of Huancayo, the capital of the central Andean region of Junin, even though the agreement was never executed and no payment was ever made.

Abanto stated that after considering the conviction arbitrary, the Peru Libre candidate went into hiding, but the TC overturned the sentence, declaring it arbitrary and therefore entitled to his release.

Cerron has another pending case for the alleged improper collection of campaign contributions from employees of the Junin regional government, a trial he was facing while on conditional release.

This changed to a pretrial detention order because the accused went into hiding in connection with the airport case.

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