Peruvian former president Martín Vizcarra may not hold public office for ten years because he would have pushed for a corona vaccine, the Peruvian congress unanimously decided in a meeting on Friday.
Vizcarra was found guilty by parliamentarians of misusing his power, conspiring and making false statements. His banishment is part of a vaccine scandal currently gripping Peru. Numerous ministers and officials were already given the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine before it was available in the Latin American country.
In addition to Vizcarra, former health minister Pilar Mazzetti has also been banned for a period of eight years. Former Secretary of State Elizabeth Astete is banned from holding public office for a year. Both ministers had to resign earlier because of the scandal, because they also received the vaccine.
Both the ministers and the ex-president deny that they have abused their position. According to Vizcarra, he and his wife were given the Sinopharm vaccine in October as part of the clinical trial that was running in the country at the time. The university that supervised this has contradicted that.
Vizcarra became president of Peru in March 2018. His greatest promise was to end corruption among politicians. However, in November last year, he became himself dropped off because of allegations of corruption. As a regional governor, he is said to have accepted bribes from developers, but has always dismissed this as lies himself. It is still very popular among the Peruvian population.
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