The case has especially rocked Peru, which has gone further than any other country outside Brazil in holding accountable the politicians suspected of participating in bribery. Still, Garcia’s death has prompting a closer scrutiny of how the cases are being conducted, in particular the issue of pretrial detention. “The fight against corruption is good, but at what cost?” television host Paola Pejoves said as images of Garcia’s hearse flashed across the screen. Of all the former Peruvian presidents caught in the Odebrecht probe, the case for detaining Garcia may have been the clearest cut. The study found that in Latin American countries, on average 36 percent of the prison population consists of people being held in pretrial detention.

Source: Washington Post April 18, 2019 17:15 UTC