Peru's Constitutional Court has overturned the 15-year prison sentence of former President Ollanta Humala in a case linked to the sprawling Odebrecht corruption scandal, leading to his release from a detention facility in eastern Lima where several jailed ex-leaders are held.

Humala, 64, and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were convicted last year of money laundering for receiving illegal contributions from Odebrecht (now Novonor) and the Venezuelan government during two presidential campaigns. Heredia subsequently received asylum in Brazil.

The court ruling, dated July 15 and published Thursday, declared "all criminal proceedings against Ollanta Moises Humala Tasso null and void." The decision came after Humala filed a habeas corpus petition, which the court found "well-founded" because the conduct for which he was convicted was not legally defined as money laundering at the time the contributions were received.

Humala, a former army officer who led the country from 2011 to 2016, was the first Peruvian ex-leader to face trial in the Odebrecht scandal, which has also tainted three other former presidents. His lawyer, Wilfredo Pedraza, said the defense received the judgment "with considerable satisfaction."

In 2016, Odebrecht agreed to pay $3.5 billion in penalties after spending $788 million in bribes to foreign leaders and officials to secure infrastructure projects across Latin America. The company admitted to paying at least $29 million in bribes to Peruvian officials between 2005 and 2014.

Source: www.aljazeera.com