They denounce that Boluarte only answers “complacent” questions from the Prosecutor’s Office about repression of protests

In an interrogation, the Peruvian president remained silent to the questions of the defense of the victims of the anti-government demonstrations.

A lawyer denounced this Wednesday that the president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, only answered “complacent” questions from the National Prosecutor’s Office in the interrogation about the repression unleashed in the anti-government protests from December 2022 to February 2023.

Interviewed by local radio station Exitosa, the criminal lawyer from the Legal Defense Institute, Juan Jose Quispe, confirmed that the president avoided referring to his questions and those of the State Attorney General’s Office (PGE).

“He only answered the appropriate questions that the Public Ministry asked him and when it was our turn to ask the questions, his lawyer [Joseph Campos] said: ‘My patron will keep silent to the questions formulated by the lawyers of the victims and the PGE,” he said.

He maintained that with the work of the Prosecutor’s Office, only “very convenient statements” are obtained.

Since last January there has been a preliminary investigation against Boluarte, the head of the Council of Ministers, Alberto Otarola, and other authorities for the deaths during the demonstrations. In June, the dignitary declared for three hours at the headquarters of the Prosecutor’s Office in Lima.

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Faced with the following summons, still without a date, the Public Ministry gave up its attempt to prevent the representatives of the families of the victims from participating in the interrogations.

In this sense, Quispe wished for greater collaboration from the accused. “We are going to be participating in all the proceedings and we hope that Mrs. Boluarte and Mr. Otarola this time do not say: ‘We are going to keep silent’, if not give an explanationnot only to the relatives of the victims, but to the entire country,” he emphasized.

“If there is no cross-examination, they are complacent questions that those investigated answer, [mientras que] in the face of uncomfortable questions they remain silent“, he added.

The massive mobilizations registered at the beginning of Boluarte’s term resulted in 67 deaths, of which 49 occurred in direct clashes with public security forces.

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Quispe, who is also a defender of people killed in the protests, criticized the work of the supreme deputy prosecutor, Marco Huaman, in the investigations into the role of Boluarte in the deaths.

“As in the special team of prosecutors who see the direct perpetrators, competent people are not being put and especially people who know about human rights cases and who have investigated them,” he said.

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Halfway through the year, Huaman affirmed that “the Public Ministry is respectful of due process,” for which he defended the president’s position.

“Everyone investigated has the right to make use of their right to remain silent. they can keep quiet and answer or not the questions,” he said.