The former commander of the Peruvian Army’s Special Forces Division, General Luis Pérez Document, will remain imprisoned as he awaits trial on first degree murder and forced disappearance charges. According to daily La República, the decision by the Third Anticorruption Court yesterday was based on the severity of the charges and the possibility Pérez would flee justice.
Pérez was arrested on Nov. 13 after the head of the Fifth Anticorruption Court, Judge Antonia Saquicuray, issued a warrant for his involvement in the 1992 murder of nine students and one professor at La Cantuta University. The victims were targeted by the Colina group for suspected collaboration with the Shining Path guerrilla movement.
Pérez is currently being held at the maximum security Miguel Castro Castro prison in Lima’s San Juan de Lurigancho district. If convicted, he would face a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Perez’s last public appearance was on Monday at the Human Rights trial of ex-President Alberto Fujimori, who is accused of authorizing the Colina group’s killings. Pérez, along with other members of the paramilitary group, are scheduled to testify at the trial.
