A PERUVIAN court has sentenced former president Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia to 15 years in prison for laundering funds received from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to finance his 2006 and 2011 election campaigns.

The judges of the National Superior Court found on Tuesday that Mr Humala and Ms Heredia had received almost $3 million (around £2.35m) in illegal contributions to these campaigns from Odebrecht and the government of Venezuela’s then president Hugo Chavez, who held power from 1999 to 2013.

Ms Heredia has requested asylum at the Brazilian embassy in Lima, Peru’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday afternoon.