Archive for the ‘Criminal Justice’ Category
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
A state prosecutor fighting reassignment to a jungle post for fear of reprisals from one of Peru’s most notorious drug barons has suffered another legal setback.
Judge Teresa Jara García rejected a habeas corpus appeal by prosecutor Luz Loayza against Attorney General Adelaida Bolívar and members of Supreme Court of Prosecutors, according to daily El Comercio.
Loayza was appealing orders from the attorney general and the Supreme Court that she return to her post in the jungle city of Iquitos, where Loayza says her life would be in danger jailed cocaine kingpin Fernando Zevallos. Jara said she made the decision last Friday however would not provide more information. (more…)
Posted in Cocaine, Criminal Justice, Politics, Women | No Comments »
Monday, February 11th, 2008
A retired Peruvian major has begun a civil trial in the United States for his alleged role in the 1985 massacre of 72 peasants in a remote Andean village during Peru’s internal conflict with leftist guerrillas. Major Telmo Hurtado is facing a lawsuit brought against him by the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability, CAJ, in a U.S. Federal Court in Miami.
Hurtado is accused of carrying out the killings under the orders of General Wilfredo Mori Orzo. The massacre occured on Aug. 14, 1985 in the village of Accomarca, located 240 miles southeast of Lima in Ayacucho Department, daily La República reported.
All the victims were children, village elders and Indian women, who were raped before being killed. The young men had fled the village, which the military suspected of cooperating with the Shining Path insurgency during their campaign to overthrow the government and install a communist state. (more…)
Posted in Criminal Justice, Insurgency | No Comments »
Friday, February 8th, 2008
A lack of justice for human rights violators during Peru’s 20-year armed conflict is a leading human rights concern in the Andean country, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. Despite the human rights trial of jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori, HRW’s 2008 World Report says most perpetrators of human rights abuses continue to evade justice.
HRW attributes the impunity to a lack of military cooperation with investigations of massacres and disappearances by the state from 1980 to 2000, when government forces fought Maoist Shining Path and MRTA guerrillas. “The military has often failed to provide information needed to identify potentially key witnesses who served in rural counterinsurgency bases during the conflict,” says HRW. “It has also declined to identify military officials known to witnesses only by their aliases.” (more…)
Posted in Criminal Justice, Insurgency, Law | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Attorney General Adelaida Bolívar and three other prosecutors will be questioned by the National Magistrates Council, CNM, over their handling of two drug trafficking investigations, daily El Comercio reported. The CNM’s disciplinary commission, led by Francisco Delgado, will later rule on opening disciplinary procedures against Bolívar and prosecutors Luis Muñoz, from Loreto Department, José Luis Castillo, from Cajamarca Department, and María Milian, from Trujillo, capital of La Libertad Department. (more…)
Posted in Cocaine, Corruption, Criminal Justice | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
State prosecutor Luz Loayza’s lawyer said he will appeal a decision by Peru’s Supreme Council of Prosecutors ordering Loayza’s return to her post in the city of Iquitos, where she would be at the mercy of drug traffickers. Aníbal Quiroga told daily La República they will appeal the decision in the judiciary and are prepared to bring the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with support from the Lima Bar Association.
In November 2005, Loayza, 47, brought charges against Peru’s cocaine kingpin, Fernando Zevallos, who is currently serving a 20 year sentence for money laundering and drug trafficking. She reportedly received numerous death threats and escaped an assassination attempt in Iquitos during the year and a half trial against Zevallos.
Loayza has argued her life would be at risk if she returns to her post in the jungle city, capital of Loreto department, where drug traffickers have promised revenge.
However, the Supreme Council ordered Loayza’s return to Iquitos on Friday, arguing she failed to report death threats to her superiors. According to daily El Comercio, the Supreme Council echoed earlier comments by Attorney General Adelaida Bolívar saying prosecutors are inherently at risk. (more…)
Posted in Cocaine, Criminal Justice, Politics, Regional Politics, Women | No Comments »
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
Justice Minister Rosario Fernández announced the commission that will evaluate and make recommendations on a privatization plan for Peru’s future prisons, in an attempt to address problems such as overcrowding. The commission, which has 30 days to produce its report, is led by Gonzalo Prialé Cevallos, who is accompanied by penal and public management specialists as well as engineers and fellow economists. Prialé, an economist and agro-exporter, is president of AFIN, the association for development of national infrastructure formed by members of Confiep, the confederation of national private businesses.
Peru’s prisons are currently managed by the National Penitentiary Institute, INPE. Under the new system, prison administration would be controlled by private companies under INPE’s supervision.
“Basically, we aren’t trying to resolve or correct the existing penitentiary problems, but rather find a formula so the future prison system will be more humane,” said Prialé. (more…)
Posted in Business, Criminal Justice | No Comments »
Friday, February 1st, 2008
Police have seized 200 kilograms, about 440 pounds, of cocaine in the port city of Callao in the largest cocaine seizure in Peru so far this year. The cocaine was hidden in a crate among replicas of Inca ceramics aboard the Elqui, which is owned by the Chilean CSAV shipping company, the largest in Latin America, according to daily La República. The cocaine was reportedly bound for Spain, with an estimated street value of eight million euros, or almost $12 million.
According to the daily, Peru’s anti-drug unit, Dirandro, arrested three employees from the port who were allegedly involved in the trafficking. The employees are suspected of being in the employ of a Colombian drug cartel that traffics to Spain, France and the United Kingdom. (more…)
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
The head of Peru’s anti-narcotics unit, General Miguel Hidalgo, announced that they will begin preliminary investigations into 124 companies and some 77 people suspected of money laundering. The investigation surrounds the Sánchez Paredes family, which is suspected of using the companies to hide decades-old profits from drug trafficking.
According to Agencia Andina, the investigations will include the Sánchez Paredes siblings: Santos Orlando, Amanda Francisca, Segundo Manuel, Fortunato Wilmer and Blanca Azucena as well as their mother, Marcelina Príncipe.
Police suspect the Sánchez Paredes family has been involved in the drug trade since 1976, supplying cocaine to Mexican and Colombian cartels, including the Medellín cartel, which was ruled by Colombia’s former drug baron, Pablo Escobar.
“We are looking for a sharp investigation with testimonies, expertise, evidence and corresponding surveys,” said Hidalgo. “When finished we’ll have an impeccable report that will allow the judiciary to press charges accordingly.” (more…)
Posted in Coca, Cocaine, Criminal Justice | No Comments »
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
A second police chief in Peru’s southern Ayacucho Department has been arrested for drug trafficking in less than two weeks. Captain Carlos Izaguirre, 46, from the small town of Quinua, in Huamanga province, was arrested Jan.24 with officer Ernesto Ramos, 41, for allegedly reselling cocaine that had been confiscated in their jurisdiction, according to daily La República.
The men were reportedly arrested in the city of Huamanga, capital of Ayacucho Department and 35 km from their Quinua jurisdiction, after police found traces of cocaine in their vehicle.
A police search of Ramos’s home also turned up $3,400, a fortune considering Peru’s police reportedly earn on average 800 soles, or less than $300, a month. The daily reported that examinations of the bills also found traces of cocaine. (more…)
Posted in Cocaine, Corruption, Criminal Justice | No Comments »
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
Peruvian police have arrested a 20-year-old computer science student accused of hacking into the websites of three Peruvian newspapers in early January. According to daily Correo, Diego Luis Bardales, alias Sdm, is suspected of leading a campaign against Peru’s media calling for authorities to release Cyber Alexis, the alias of César Alexis Atoche, 23, who was arrested a week earlier. Atoche is accused of, among other things, siphoning some $833,000 in online fraud.
The sites of daily Ojo and daily Correo were temporarily shut down on Jan. 7 after a hacker called Sdm posted messages calling for authorities to “free Cyber Alexis” and “you protect the streets, leave the net to us.” The hacker, turned cracker, also erased the text of daily Expreso’s web page, leaving it blank.
Posted in Criminal Justice, Technology | No Comments »
