International

National Police raid Peruvian Public Prosecutor’s Office headquarters

Photo: @FiscaliaPeru

November 28 |

The headquarters of Peru’s Public Prosecutor’s Office dawned Monday under raid by the National Police as authorities investigate the head of the agency, Patricia Benavides, who is accused of involvement in an alleged criminal network and influence peddling.

The operation called Valkiria V was coordinated with the Special Team of Prosecutors against Corruption of Power (Eficcop) and the Division of High Complexity Investigations (Diviac).

It was learned that among those under investigation are also three of Benavides’ advisors: Jaime Villanueva Barreto, Miguel Ángel Girao Isidro and Abel Hurtado Espinoza.

Villanueva, one of the advisors, hours before the raid, apparently forewarned of the raid, went to a clinic although his attempt to evade justice was in vain, the doctors determined that there was no significant medical problem and he was arrested.

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The arrest was carried out as part of a joint operation between Eficcop and the High Complexity Investigations Division (Diviac).

According to local media, the alleged network “instrumentalized the criminal prosecution” since it had the objective of manipulating the decisions of some congressmen in the removal of the heads of the National Justice Board (JNJ), among them the appointment of the ombudsman, Josué Gutiérrez, and the disqualification of Zoraida Ávalos as Attorney of the Nation.

Ávalos herself in a message published in her X account wrote that “what I had been maintaining all these months about my disqualification, today is evidenced with proofs of the plot that was set up against me”.

“It is evidenced that my disqualification responded to a political issue and that Patricia Benavides and her close environment were behind my disqualification”, added the former official.

Benavides would have filed the complaint against 40 congressmen catalogued as Los Niños, last June 15, in exchange for the fact that five days later, part of them voted in favor of Zoraida Ávalos’ disqualification.

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According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office investigation, some of these legislators were considered part of the strategy of the criminal organization led by Benavides.

Related Topics:Patricia Benavides Peru's Public Prosecutor's Office

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Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

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The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

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Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

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Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

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