Lawyers complain of 'legal persecution' of journalists investigating Peruvian group

ROME – Peruvian lawyers explain how the country’s criminal justice system works and how it was used to target journalists reporting on the scandal Sodalityum Christianae Vitae (SCV).

Founded in 1971 by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari, the SCV was one of the most influential and prestigious religious groups in Latin America in its heyday, but for the past decade it has been shrouded in scandals surrounding allegations of abuse and financial corruption, including sexual abuse. Exploitation of minors and international money laundering against Figari and other senior members.

Journalists Pedro Salinas and Paola Ugaz, who uncovered the scandals and continued to investigate the group, faced constant criminal complaints against them by individuals and organizations affiliated with SCV, on charges such as defamation and illicit enrichment.

To talk turning pointSpeaking about the intense legal complaints against journalists, Peruvian journalist Carlos Rivera said: “I have no doubt that this criminal case is part of a campaign of legal destruction, legal persecution against journalists.”

“If this had happened once, we would say it was an issue with a judge, but we noticed it happened several times,” he said.

Rivera represented Salinas in a criminal defamation lawsuit filed against Salinas in 2018 by then-piura archbishop Jose Antonio Eguren; He is among 15 members of SCV, including Figari himself, who was suspended from the group in recent weeks. There is an ongoing investigation at the Vatican.

Rivera and his Peruvian lawyer friend Jose Ugaz said: turning point How does Peru’s criminal system work and how is it possible for private citizens to file criminal charges?

Rivera said the criminal justice system in Peru consists primarily of the Attorney General’s Office, or Public Prosecutor, and the Judiciary, which consists of specialized criminal, civil and constitutional judges.

“The Attorney General’s Office in Peru has a very specific organization,” Rivera said, noting that there are prosecutors who specialize in various types of crimes, such as common petty crimes, organized crime, terrorism, corruption and money laundering.

Generally speaking, Rivera said prosecutors are the ones responsible for initiating a criminal investigation into a person or persons based on information they receive about a potential crime.

Ugaz in his statements turning point “Anyone can file a complaint in Peru. Everything needed to prepare the so-called criminal complaint is enough for any citizen to go to the prosecutor’s office and file a complaint, but it is up to the prosecutor to evaluate the facts reported to him and decide whether to file a complaint. To open an investigation.”

“Someone files a complaint and the prosecutor’s office evaluates what is called simple initial suspicion. “If the prosecutor considers that the facts reported meet the standard that would give rise to a simple initial suspicion, he may open an investigation,” he said.

Rivera said that if the prosecutor decides to open a preliminary investigation, he must determine who will conduct the investigation and within what time frame. After the investigation is completed, the prosecutor will decide whether to file a complaint with the judiciary.

Rivera said that during the judicial phase, evidence will be presented, there will be a hearing attended by the prosecutor and the defendant’s lawyer to discuss the allegations, and finally, there will be a decision on whether to move it to a criminal case.

Rivera said if that is the verdict, an indictment would be filed followed by a public hearing, and once a verdict is reached, defendants have the right to appeal if found guilty.

“Our penal system allows ordinary people, ordinary citizens, to file complaints even if they are not the direct victims, which is more or less true of the complaints against Paola Ugaz and Pedro Salinas,” he said.

Most of the legal complaints against Salinas and Ugaz were for defamation, but more recent complaints have included allegations of money laundering and illicit enrichment; These were crimes for which SCV himself was accused.

Rivera explained that in Peruvian law, defamation is considered a criminal offense and is the only case in which the prosecutor is not involved, meaning private citizens can present their complaints directly to the judge.

“This is the only case in which the prosecutor’s office did not intervene. “This is considered a crime against a very specific right of the people, which is the right to dignity, to a good name,” Rivera said.

What this means in practice is: “If I slander you, in these cases you can go and file a complaint before a criminal judge. The prosecutor’s office does not intervene. You act like a prosecutor.”

“This is the only situation, the only type of crime where this is allowed,” he said.

He said that from now on, it is up to the judge to evaluate the complaint and decide whether to initiate criminal proceedings or reject the complaint.

Rivera said, “Unfortunately, the prosecutor’s office has always opened investigations against the journalists we mentioned” and said that they did this “even though there was no evidence.”

Rivera said this was likely “a result of the political or institutional influence that certain power groups have over the Judiciary, which causes judges, who are supposed to make impartial, independent decisions, to make decisions that are in the best interest of the complainant.” “Because of political pressure.”

“This is unfortunately a common reality in Peru,” he said, saying the SCV has too much power in Peru and that he personally witnessed this in the 2018 case involving Salinas and Eguren.

In that case, tried in Piura, “It was obvious that we were fighting against one of the most powerful men in that city. That’s why they convicted Pedro Salinas without any evidence,” he said.

Eguren withdrew his complaint after political and religious backlash following Salinas’ guilty verdict and also withdrew his similar complaint against Paola Ugaz.

Ugaz himself continued to receive criminal complaints from people and organizations with ties to SCV, including a recent illicit enrichment case that Rivera said had no legal basis but which the judge potentially exposed by ordering the declassification of his communications. its resources.

In his statements turning pointJose Ugaz, who represented a group of SCV victims who attempted to bring criminal cases against various SCV members and was eventually archived, said at Ugaz’s trial: “It is clear to me that there was a systematic campaign to damage his image. It is based on these false accusations that bear no resemblance to the truth.”

“It seems to me disproportionate that the decision to remove banking secrecy or communications secrecy was made,” he said. “This was apparently done, as far as I know, with judicial authorization, which is what the law requires.”

“If there is judicial authority, the prosecutor will have to explain why he wants this removal. If there is no reasonable explanation, in my opinion, sanctions may even be imposed on the grounds that they abused their authority,” he said.

Salinas himself was indicted on October 23 in 2017 for his serious participation in an alleged political conspiracy while running a communications organization, for which accusers with ties to SCV are seeking heavy fines and prison sentences of 6 to 15 years. An announcement was made. .

Rivera said he believed the allegations against Salinas and Ugaz were unfounded and amounted to a “campaign against journalists who participated in the SCV’s investigation.”

Similarly, Ugaz said, “This is done a lot in every country in the world when the judicial system is used to persecute enemies by accusing them of false accusations, corruption, money laundering, etc. They are trying to discredit us by using unfounded accusations such as. enemies.”

Although he does not believe the situation in Peru is among the worst, Ugaz said of the SCV: “In their case, they used it very strongly against Pedro Salinas and Paola Ugaz.”

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen

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