Homicide Charges Filed Against Peru's Former Spy Chief, 18 Army Officers

Saturday, May 25, 2002

LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian prosecutor has filed homicide charges against ex-spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos and 18 army officers for allegedly executing three leftist rebels who had surrendered during a dramatic 1997 hostage rescue.

The attorney general's office announced the charges in a statement late Friday. A judge must now decide whether to proceed with a trial.

The statement also said Attorney General Nelly Calderon would open an investigation into former President Alberto Fujimori's "presumed responsibility" for the rebels' 1997 deaths.

Calderon would have to ask Congress to lift the ex-president's constitutional immunity before pressing any charges against Fujimori, who fled to his parents' native Japan after being forced from office in 2000.

Richard Saavedra, a special prosecutor for human rights, alleged that three Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement guerrillas were killed after they surrendered during a commando raid that ended a four-month hostage standoff at the Japanese ambassador's residence.

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