The Second Supra-Provincial Criminal Prosecutor's Office Specialized in Human Rights and Anti-Terrorism based in Lima filed charges and requested life imprisonment for Victor Polay, ringleader of the terrorist organization Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), for the crimes of aggravated murder and aggravated terrorism in the "Las Gardenias" case.
An 18-month pretrial detention was also requested against him.
The corresponding hearing is scheduled for November 26, 2025.
The Public Ministry (Prosecutor's Office) reported that the same sentence has been requested for Maria Cumpa, Peter Cardenas, Alberto Galvez, Lino Manrique, and Sistero Garcia.
They are accused as indirect perpetrators in the context of serious human rights violations for the murders of LGBTQ+ community members between 1989 and 1992 in San Martin region.
According to the prosecutorial indictment, members of the MRTA's Northeastern Front, led by Lino Manrique, executed eight men from the LGBTI community at the "Las Gardenias" nightclub in Tarapoto in May 1989.
In 1990, members of the same subversive group murdered Luis Pinchi, a stylist from Tarapoto, as part of the "social cleansing" policy that the terrorist organization carried out against the LGTBI community in the same region.
Between 1991 and 1992, they also executed Silvano Vela and Salomon Perez, respectively, due to their sexual orientation.
Based on these events and the evidence gathered, it is argued that the crimes were committed under the "social cleansing" plan approved at the MRTA's Second Central Committee in 1988.
The hearing to review the prosecutorial indictment and the requested sentences will be held on November 28.
Through these actions, the Prosecutor's Office Specialized in Human Rights and Anti-Terrorism reaffirms its commitment to the pursuit of truth, reparations for the families of hate crime victims, and the imposition of sanctions on those responsible for offenses that violate citizens' fundamental rights on the basis of sexual orientation.