LIMA—Former First Lady of Peru, Nadine Heredia, has presented her appeal before the Peruvian Judicial Powers in which she requests her diaries are excluded from the judicial process related to the investigations into her alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme.

 The lawyer of the defendant, Wilfredo Pedraza, has announced that the appeal highlights the “protection of rights” of his client and has asked that the personal notebooks might be declared “prohibited evidence” as they were obtained through theft.

 The magistrate will evaluate the appeal and produce a verdict before a public hearing on Tuesday, April 18.

 Mr Pedraza told Peruvian news agency El Comercio, that the appeal had been submitted because evidence in a penal case has to be obtained through normal means.

 “In this case, these documents were extracted from the house of Mrs Heredia and Mr Humala, and the person who took them out left them at the door of a former congressman,” said the lawyer.

 “The congressman had them for eight and half months, he took them to Italy, he submitted them to a private specialist, he photocopied them, shared them with the media and manipulated them. Recently he handed them to the prosecutor and they, in turn, have handed them to the public prosecution office.”

 The lawyer confirmed that they were not filing the appeal in order to postpone the case.

 “We only ask that they do not use these diaries, but the suspicions of the crime they can continue to investigate through probationary means.”

 The appeal comes after Heredia again discredited the legitimacy of the diaries before Congress, stating, “These diaries have been stolen, this type of document has been extracted and taken by everyone.”

 Heredia also underlined her appeal against the restriction placed upon her that prevents her from leaving the country without seeking prior judicial authorization and also forces her to return within 30 days of her departure.

 These travel restrictions greatly hinder her role as Special Ambassador at the FAO, although when asked about her position as the organisation she told Peruvian media, “I still have it.”

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