Thirteen magistrates involved in one of the biggest corruption scandals remain in the justice system. Lack of JNJ implementation prevents sanctions for those who are supreme
The deactivation of the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) a year ago left a great task pending: the review of the continuity of several judges and supreme prosecutors involved in the Los Cuellos Blancos del Puerto Case. Because the National Justice Board has not been installed to date, this process has not been completed.
Thirteen magistrates investigated in the case - out of a total of 41 reviewed for this report - remain in the justice system. Five of them have the rank of supreme.
Last week, the Judiciary opened summary criminal proceedings to former Nation Attorney Pedro Chávarry for the crime of real cover-up. Chávarry will face this trial with simple appearance while serving as head of the Supreme Civil Prosecutor's Office.
The process against Chávarry was not originated by his alleged participation in the Los Cuellos Blancos del Puerto Case, but in the Lava Jato Case, for removing prosecutors Rafael Vela and José Domingo Pérez from the special team, shortly before the signing of the agreement effective collaboration with Odebrecht, and for asking for information about it when it was in negotiation on a reserved basis
The Congress filed the formalization of the charges against the former prosecutor of the Nation for his alleged participation in the criminal organization that led to the dismissal of the members of the National Council of the Magistracy.
The criminal Vladimir Padilla explains that, in the absence of the installation of the National Board of Justice, at this time the supreme judges and prosecutors investigated for criminal acts cannot be suspended for the duration of the investigation or dismissed. To do this, the criteria it takes into account are suitability and conduct. In addition, because they have the right to prejudice, they require the authorization of Congress to be prosecuted.
In addition to Chávarry, Tomás Gálvez Villegas and Luis Arce Córdova are two other supreme prosecutors involved in the case they remain in their positions.
Galvez, head of the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office, was the one who a few weeks ago asked the Nation's prosecutor, Zoraida Ávalos, to summon Prosecutor Rafael Vela to the Board of Supreme Prosecutors to explain the scope of the effective collaboration agreement with Odebrecht. Recently, the Judiciary annulled the order to prevent leaving the country for eight months against the magistrate.
Meanwhile, Arce remains as a full member of the National Election Jury. He is accused of managing favors for exjuez César Hinostroza in the electoral body. The JNE has a complicated situation, since the office of prosecutor Ávalos has initiated preliminary inquiries to its president, Víctor Ticona, following the dissemination of talks with César Hinostroza, disseminated by this newspaper.
Meanwhile, Deputy Supreme Prosecutor Sandro Paredes Quiroz, accused of giving protection to members of a criminal organization at the request of the governor of Callao, Dante Mandriotti, was suspended from his post for 24 months, by order of Judge Hugo Núñez Julca.
—Time of judges—
The only supreme judge dismissed by Congress, along with former members of the CNM, is César Hinostroza. He was also disqualified from public office for ten years and is the only one accused of belonging to a criminal organization. Now he is in an extradition process from Spain.
But two other Supreme Judges investigated remain in their posts and are members of the Plenary Chamber of the Supreme Court: Ángel Romero Díaz, president of the Transitional Civil Chamber, and Martín Hurtado Reyes, a member of the Permanent Civil Chamber.
In July 2018, the “Panorama” program broadcast an audio between Hinostroza and Romero in which they talked about a sentence that acquitted the rapist of a 13-year-old girl issued by the former. In addition, he participated in meetings with the former president of the Superior Court of Justice of Callao Walter Ríos who are under investigation.
In another audio, broadcast on Channel N, a conversation is recorded between Hinostroza and Hurtado Reyes to ensure an alleged exchange of favors in appointments.
—Suspension of inferiors—
At a lower level, the Office of Control of the Magistracy (OCMA) suspended from its functions superior and specialized judges: Walter Ríos (with preventive detention for 36 months), Raúl Salcedo Rodríguez, Walter Linares Saldaña, Miguel Miranda Mendoza, Daniel Peirano Sánchez, Johana Muñante Sánchez and Marco Cerna Bazán, among other magistrates who are not yet incorporated into the investigation following the investigation that prosecutor Rocío Sánchez makes in the case.
But not all the judges and prosecutors investigated were suspended. The most striking case is that of prosecutor Edgar Espinoza Casas