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Law and Order | 5 September, 2006 [ 12:54 ]

The history of a corrupt Peruvian Supreme Court judge

Peru's Supreme Court judge Eduardo Palacios was arrested yesterday after accepting a S/. 2,000 bribe.

(LIP-wb) After yesterday's arrest of Peruvian Supreme Court judge Eduardo Palacios Villar for pocketing a S/. 2,000 Soles bribe (US$ 620), more details surfaced today.

The judge was stopped by police in his own office with S/. 100 and S./ 50 bills which were handed to him by the ex-police sergeant major officer Willy Ipanaqué Lescano in exchange for his judicial influence. Ipanaqué is seeking his reinstatement into Peru's national police force from which he was expelled in 1993 for abusing his law enforcement powers.
A 2004 judicial failure ordered his exoneration and reinstatement. However, a new resolution confirmed the previous ruling, reason why Ipanaqué appealed before the Supreme Court.

After he was caught red-handed and it was obvious that he would keep the money packets in his coat, police went in and arrested the surprised judge. He was taken immediately to a police station in the center of Lima.

Simultaneously his assistant Gloria Ludeña was arrested in a restaurant near the Palace of Justice. She, too, carried several bills from the same source.

Ipanaqué told police that judge Palacios, current member of the Second Transitory Penal Court presided by Roger Salas, requested a total payment of S/. 7,000. He explained that yesterday's S/. 2,000 was the third delivery and that a fourth payment was still due.

The president of the Supreme Court and Peru's highest judge Walter Vásquez Vejarano clarified that Palacios isn't even involved in the Ipanaqué process, a labor dispute between him and the Interior Department. This case (file 706-2006) is handled by the Constitutional Court headed by judge Javier Villa Stein.

“I have known Palacios for many years, I always gave him good references”, a disappointed Vásquez Vejarano said. “This is a devastating blow for our institution and hurts our image. It also hurts me personally, I am aghast and ashamed”, he confessed.

Vásquez Vejarano announced immediate action which will be discussed in an emergency meeting tomorrow. Some of the measures that will be taken are Palacios' dismissal and legal action in his against, the selection of his replacement and perhaps the Supreme Court's reorganization, and the review of al cases in which Palacios was involved. Vásquez also wants that members of the National Magistrate Control Office (OCMA), an organ supervising Peru's Justice System and magistrates for irregularities, to pay unexpected visits to justice officials.

District attorney Cecilia Hinojosa was designated for this case. He remained silent during his first interrogation and has named Caesar Nakasaki as his defense lawyer. Nakasaki is also one of Alberto Fujimori's defense lawyers, handling the ex-President's extradition request from Chile.

At this moment, Peru's Congress is also debating the case, including the revocation of Palacios' judicial immunity.
During the past years Supreme Court judge Palacios was in charge of several cases related to the government of Alberto Fujimori and his collaborators. He also presided over the case of Peru's ex-Interior Minister Agustín Mantilla:

• January 23, 2004: Eduardo Palacios' Court ruled that defendants accused of corruption can be freed after one third of their sentences had been served. The ruling benefited several members of the "Fuji-montesinista" mafia.
• February 14, 2005: a penal court that included Palacios acquitted Martha Chávez of accusations to have received money from Vladimiro Montesinos.
• April 13, 2005: The Special Penal Court, with the participation of Palacios, granted Agustín Mantilla Fields his conditional freedom after he had served two third of his 4-year sentence for accepting money from Montesinos.
• August 8, 2005: Palacios' court overruled the request by leading prosecutor Lidia Vega to extend the Fujimori investigation related to the torture of journalist Fabian Salazar by 30 days.
• October 19, 2005: the same court acquitted ex-President Alberto Fujimori from accusations of having favored Israeli arms dealer Moshe Rothschild.
• January 1, 2006: the executive commission of Peru's Judicial Power designated judge Palacios to preside over the court that will eventually hand out its judgment to Alberto Fujimori after his potential extradition from Chile.

(Source: La Republica)

tags : Peru law justice corruption SupremeCourt Lima bribery Palacios Fujimori

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3 Comments

# Wolfy says :
5 September, 2006 [ 13:41 ]

- update - Vásquez Vejarano, Peru's highest Justice System official said this afternoon that Palacios was not involved in any cases related to the Fujimori/Montesinos corruption cases therefore these cases do not need to be reviewed.

So what exactly did he do over the last few years ????

# Carmen Rhor says :
7 September, 2006 [ 08:47 ]

And now .... the poor and brave police officer has been dismissed from his job!!!

What shall we do? That's why people do not dare to acuse any corrupted officer for we all know the consequences!!

Carmen.

# Wolfy says :
7 September, 2006 [ 16:00 ]

Carmen, not sure if you read the article correctly: if you refer to the ex-policer officer who offered the bribe; he was expelled from the service in 1993. Now he is looking for his reinstatement to the police force.

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