Andina

Peru: Lava Jato Prosecutors constantly threatened by Supreme Prosecutors

19:50 | Lima, Nov. 13.

Peru's Lava Jato Case Special Prosecution Group Coordinator Rafael Vela on Wednesday affirmed that his group is constantly threatened by members of the Board of Supreme Prosecutors such as Pedro Chavarry, Tomas Galvez, and Victor Rodriguez.

Vela noted he has made this situation public because the Board of Supreme Prosecutors has the legal authority to ultimately assess the disciplinary measures that could be ordered against him or fellow Prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez.

"To that extent, it is a permanent factor of threat and distortion concerning what the work atmosphere should be and merely devote ourselves to the technical part, but we must always be expecting the misuse of the supreme prosecutors' positions," he expressed.

Vela referred to the content of an act of the Board of Supreme Prosecutors that reveals the stance of Tomas Galvez, Victor Rodriguez and Pedro Chavarry, in opposition to that of Pablo Sanchez and Attorney General Zoraida Avalos.

In this regard, the magistrate warned that the magistrates standing against his team are the majority.

"Within a simple mathematical framework, which represents having a majority, we have had to make visible that this threat actually exists and that, at some point, they can make abusive use of their position (...), they can materialize and instrumentalize an illegal decision that could lead to our dismissal," he stated.

Vela mentioned that —during the time Pedro Chavarry had served as Attorney General— he and Perez had been harassed and, at some point, subject to questioning by the Internal Control Department.

He said that the assessment of Chavarry's tenure in the post as prosecutor does not depend on himself, but on Prosecutor Bersabeth Revilla.

However, Vela reiterated that he makes public the supreme prosecutors' intention to remove him from the Lava Jato Case Special Prosecution Group, as it indeed happened in December 2018. The removal brought protesters to the streets.

Remarks were made after testifying for more than five hours before Judge Hugo Nuñez, as part of the proceedings against Chavarry, who is investigated for having —initially— dismissed him along with Perez from the Odebrecht case investigation on New Year's Eve


Highly popular among Peruvians, the team is supported by Attorney General Zoraida Avalos and President Martin Vizcarra.

(END) FHG/MVB

Published: 11/13/2019