The Constitutional Court (TC) has annulled the conviction against Daniel Urresti in the Bustios case and ordered his immediate release.
It ruled that the criminal prosecution for the events that occurred in 1988 was time-barred and that those acts could not be classified as crimes against humanity because that legal category was not in force at the time.
In its ruling in Case File No. 02939-2025-PHC/TC, the Constitutional Court—the Constitution's supreme interpreter— found that the principle of criminal legality had been violated by classifying the acts as crimes against humanity, even though they occurred in 1988, before the Rome Statute entered into force in Peru.
The collegiate panel specified that the Rome Statute entered into force for the Peruvian state on July 1, 2002.
Therefore, it cannot be applied retroactively to classify as a crime against humanity an act that occurred beforehand.
Likewise, the TC stated that the Constitution prohibits a person from being convicted for an act that, at the time it was committed, was not expressly defined as a criminal offense under the law then in force.
The court also examined whether the criminal prosecution was time-barred, given that the events occurred in 1988.
In that context, it recalled that the statute of limitations extinguishes the Peruvian State's punitive authority and produces res judicata effects, in accordance with Article 139 of the Constitution.
The ruling questioned the judicial bodies' decision to deem the acts as crimes against humanity in order to justify their imprescriptibility, given that such a classification was not provided for in the 1924 Criminal Code, which was in force at the time of the events.
Thus, the Constitutional Court concluded that the principle of legality had been violated and ordered the immediate release.
The criminal proceedings had concluded with ruling in April 2023 that convicted Daniel Urresti of aggravated murder, on grounds of treachery, to the detriment of Hugo Bustios, and of attempted murder to the detriment of Eduardo Yeni Rojas Arce.
The decision of the Constitutional Court nullifies the challenged judicial rulings insofar as they relate to the violation of personal liberty.
Background of the case
Daniel Urresti was sentenced to 12 years of effective imprisonment as the perpetrator of aggravated murder, on grounds of treachery, to the detriment of journalist Hugo Bustios, and of attempted murder against Eduardo Rojas for events that occurred in Huanta, Ayacucho region, in 1988.
According to the prosecutorial indictment, while serving as an Army officer—known at the time as "Captain Arturo"—he took part in the operation during which Bustios was attacked and later died after an explosive device was placed on his body.
The ruling was ratified in November 2024 by the Fourth Supraprovincial Criminal Prosecutor's Office Specialized in Human Rights and Terrorism.
Urresti had been serving his sentence at the Virgen de la Merced Penitentiary, in Lima, since his incarceration in 2023, following the confirmation of the verdict in second instance.
Who is Daniel Urresti?
Daniel Belizario Urresti Elera is a retired Army general and political figure who has held several public offices.
Urresti was appointed High Commissioner for the Fight against Illegal Mining and later as Minister of Interior during the administration of Ollanta Humala.
In the electoral arena, he ran for the Presidency of the Republic in 2016 and 2021.
Urresti served as a member of Congress during the 2020–2021 term for Podemos Peru (We Can Peru Party).
He was also a candidate for mayor of Lima in 2018 and 2022.
In 2023, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison as a co-perpetrator in the murder of journalist Hugo Bustios, a crime committed in Huanta, Ayacucho region, in 1988, when he was serving as an Army officer.
The ruling was annulled by the Constitutional Court after it declared the criminal prosecution time-barred.