fujimorifacingjustice

Last night, the First Anti-Corruption Court in Lima, Peru convicted General Julio Salazar Monroe--the former director of Peru's National Intelligence Service--and three members of the Colina death squad for the disappearance and murder of 9 university students and a university professor in the notorious La Cantuta massacre of July 18, 1992.

The Court condemned General Salazar Monroe to 35 years in prison, the longest sentence ever given to a military general in Peru's history, while Orlando Vera Navarrete, Fernando Lecca Esquén, and José Alarcón González each received 15 year sentences for their roles in the massacre.

In its historic ruling, the Court determined that the Colina death squad operated within the structure of the Peruvian military and with full consent of the military's high command. Additionally, the Court found that General Salazar Monroe regularly provided ex-President Alberto Fujimori with updates about Colina's operations.

Observers in Peru believe that the Court's findings could complicate the legal defense of Fujimori, who currently faces charges for human rights violations related to the deaths of 25 people in the La Cantuta and Barrios Altos massacres. Since the beginning of the proceedings against him, Fujimori has steadfastly denied knowing about the death squad's existence.

According to BBCmundo.com, the family members of the La Cantuta victims received the Court's decision with great satisfaction. In response to the convictions, Raída Condor, mother of one of the victims, told the press: "No one can take away the pain of losing my son, but my struggle [for justice] has not been in vain."

To read more about this historic ruling, click on the following links for articles in English or in Spanish.

 --Hayden Gore