Corruption, Crime, Law & Justice, Politics

President Vizcarra Orders Congress to Debate Ousting of Magistrates

Premier Cesar Villanueva and President Vizcarra. Source: Presidencia

President Martin Vizcarra yesterday called Congress to hold an extraordinary session this Friday, July 20, “in light of the evident acts of corruption and crimes,” to debate article 57 of the Constitution and agree to remove all members of the National Council of Magistrates, CNM.   The Congress has been slow to even consider the issue after offering an immediate debate a week ago.

“This measure is urgent,” the President said at a palace press conference, with his cabinet chief, Cesar Villanueva.  “No one can remain with their arms crossed in the face of corruption. We will not allow the decomposition of Peru’s institutions and we are fighting this scourge face on.”

The President has also appointed a Judiciary Reform Commission, headed by Allan Wagner, a former Foreign Relations minister and current president of Transparency, affiliated to Transparency International.  The seven-member commission, which includes former Constitutional Court justice Delia Revoredo, and Proetica director and former People’s Ombudsman Walter Alban, has been given 12 days to present its proposal for comprehensive reform throughout the system.

The release of audio recordings on July 7 by Gustavo Gorriti’s IDL-Reporteros, followed a day later with other recordings by Rosana Cueva on Channel 5 TV’s Panorama program, demonstrated a broad web of corruption and trading of favors in the justice system that critics have likened to a Persian market, specifically five magistrates in the CNM, one justice in the Supreme Court, and the chief justice of the Superior Court of Callao.

The phone taps were the result of court orders in the investigation into organized crime gangs in Callao and cover a period of six months.  Phone conversations of the initial targets led to links with district attorneys and justices, leading to a wider and wider network that includes members of congress and at least one business executive.  One phone conversation also mentions a future meeting with “Mrs. K” of “force number one” — Keiko Fujimori has denied any knowledge of such a meeting, but lawmakers of her own party believe it could have been her.

Gustavo Gorriti, IDL-Reporteros

“There are a lot more recordings to come. Six months’ worth,” Gorriti told RPP Radio.

The first fallout includes the resignation of the minister of Justice, Salvador Heresi,  who was recorded in a phone call, and although the CNM justices initially put up a fight most have now tendered their resignations, while the chief justice of the Superior Court of Callao is under arrest and the Judiciary has been declared under a 90-day “emergency” reorganization.  The president of the Supreme Court, Duberlí Rodriguez, said the decision includes the judiciary and the administration in the country’s judicial districts, the national criminal courts and specialized corruption crimes system.

Rosana Cueva, Panorama.

After an emergency State Council meeting early last week, the President announced that the leader of Congress, Luis Galarreta, had made a commitment to call lawmakers to vote on the CNM ousting.  But Congress, governed by the Fujimorista majority and backed by Apra, did not broach the issue all week and instead the congressional justice commission called the two journalists, Gustavo Gorriti and Rosana Cueva, to testify about their sources for the audio recordings.   Both Gorriti and Cueva have refused to comply.

Protest marches have begun, with a call for marches nationwide on Thursday night. Thre is also a move to fly the Peruvian flag at half-mast during the Independence holidays next week, and a growing number of schools plan to opt out this year from the traditional Independence Day parades.   Journalists have called for a vigil Wednesday evening outside IDL-Reporteros, at the Legal Defense Institute’s offices in San Isidro, which was threatened last week by district attorneys who attempted to seize documents without official authorization.

 

2 Comments

  1. Let’s not forget the real reason for this – and it is NOT about eliminating corruption but MAINTAINING it.
    Congress recently passed the Mulder Law to ban the government from paying media outlets to advertise for it, and this practice, besides costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, has also involved a lot of bribery to print propaganda for the ruling party and the radical feminist parties (New Peru and Wide Front) under the guise of journalism. International NGOs like Planned Parenthood (and its subsidiaries in Peru), the UN Organization and Soros’ Open Society Foundation have also contributed millions to this effort. President Vizcarra has sued for an injunction against the Mulder Law because he wants to continue this corrupt practice, so obviously both he and the media were fishing for an excuse to make sure the suit would be heard by judges biased in their favor.

  2. Ronald Lemley

    Michael- Your statements have absolutely zero merit as there is no such thing as a “feminist” party. I assume that you know that this is complete BS since you mention Soros and Planned Parenthood, neither of which are part of Peruvian politics. You are either a BS artist trying to make a joke or you are a right wing wacko attempting to spew rancid mis-information. It’s very offensive either way.

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