‘A decision of dignity and honour’: Peruvians mourn ex-leader Garcia after he shot himself to avoid arrest for corruption scandal
- The former chief of state twice served as president and at his peak was hailed the ‘president of hope’
- Prosecutors said they believed the former president received more than US$100,000 from Odebrecht, disguised as a payment to speak at a conference in Brazil.
The body of former Peruvian President Alan Garcia was taken to the headquarters of his political party for a memorial service on Wednesday, after he fatally shot himself in the head as authorities arrived at his home to detain him in connection to a corruption scandal.
García shot himself on Wednesday morning moments after police came to detain him in connection with the Odebrecht corruption scandal. He had not been charged but a judge ordered his preliminary detention.
The former chief of state twice served as president and at his peak was hailed the “president of hope”.
The vehicle carrying the coffin snaked through a crowd of supporters gathered outside the party’s headquarters on Wednesday night. Several men carried his wooden casket inside to chants of “Alan! Alan!”
Some of Garcia’s supporters called his suicide a heroic act.
