US embassy cable - 05LIMA4190

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIMA 004190 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KJUS, PE 
SUBJECT: FORMER ANTI-CORRUPTION COURT HEAD BELIEVES 
POLITICAL MOTIVES WERE BEHIND HIS TRANSFER 
 
REF: LIMA 1375 
 
Classified By: D/Polcouns Art Muirhead for Reason 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY.  A series of personnel transfers in Lima's 
courts were announced 9/1, including that of Saul Pena, who 
had served as Chief Judge of an Anti-Corruption Court Chamber 
the past four years.  Pena told Emboff on 9/16 that pressure 
from the GOP, linked to his persistent investigation of the 
use of false signatures to register President Toledo's Peru 
Posible Party for the 2000 elections, was the reason for his 
transfer.  Pena said that at the time of his removal, he had 
been on the verge of requiring testimony from "prominent 
individuals" regarding witness-tampering in this case. 
Nevertheless, other anti-corruption figures have accepted 
Pena's transfer as part of the normal rotation and promotion 
process of the court.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) Judge Maria Zavala, President of the Lima Superior 
Court, announced a series of changes in the make-up of local 
tribunals on 9/1.  The Special Anti-Corruption Court, which 
has been instrumental in recovering tens of millions of 
dollars stolen from the GOP by former Fujimori Intelligence 
Advisor Vladimiro Montesinos, had two of its long-time 
members, Chief Judge Saul Pena and Associate Justice Sara 
Mayta, transferred to the Lima Appellate Court.  Besides the 
replacements for Pena and Mayta, nine judges were named to 
fill positions on the three new Anti-Corruption Court 
Chambers, bringing the total number of justices in this 
specialized group to 18.  In her press conference, Judge 
Zavala stressed the quality and experience of the individuals 
being brought on to the Anti-Corruption Court, and singled 
out Pena's replacement, Carolina Lizarraga, who just returned 
to Peru after completing a Masters program at Yale. 
 
3. (C) Judge Pena told D/Polcouns on 9/16 that he thought his 
transfer to the Lima appellate court had been engineered to 
remove him from jurisdiction over a number of sensitive 
cases, in particular the investigation of President Toledo's 
Peru Posible Party having used false signatures to register 
for the 2000 elections (Ref B).  Pena went so far as to claim 
that all the other transfers had been set up as a "smoke 
screen" to make his removal seem more routine.  He said he 
was sure that Zavala had been "gotten to" by influential 
people in Peru Posible who wanted him removed from the false 
signatures inquiry, especially considering that as an 
outgrowth of the investigation, he had twice ordered 
President Toledo's sister Margarita held under house arrest. 
Pena said as he had delved further into the case, he had 
received many calls from Congressmen and other politicians 
urging him to "take it easy." 
 
4. (C) Pena observed that as a result of evidence of 
witness-tampering in the case (one of the prime accusers of 
Margarita Toledo, Carmen Burga, was spirited out of the 
country, but later returned), he had been about to require 
testimony from several other prominent individuals.  When 
Emboff commented that we had heard allegations that former 
Interior Minister (and current Peru Posible SecGen) Javier 
Reategui had coordinated the removal of Burga, Pena confirmed 
that Reategui had been mentioned in the witness-tampering 
inquiry, but he did not specify in what fashion. 
 
5. (C) Pena said he also believed it possible that his 
removal may have been part of a deal between the Toledo 
Administration and executives of the justice sector to 
provide more funds to Peru's judiciary.  Pena said Walter 
Vasquez, the current President of the Supreme Court (and 
chief executive of the entire judiciary), cared little for 
judicial reform, was concentrating his energies on obtaining 
more funding for the courts, and would be prepared to cede to 
pressures from the executive branch if it were to get him 
more money. 
 
6. (U) Other anti-corruption figures took a less 
conspiratorial view of the personnel changes in the courts. 
Former Special Prosecutor Luis Vargas Valdivia said that 
although the transfer of Pena would inevitably cause a delay 
in the Peru Posible investigation, his selection for the 
appellate bench should still be seen as a step up, and a vote 
of confidence.  The head of the local branch of the Judiciary 
Control Office (OCMA), Sergio Salas, pointed out that some of 
Pena's decisions in the Peru Posible case had been overruled, 
leading Salas to conclude that Pena was worn-out, and his 
removal was "necessary." 
 
7. (C) COMMENT:  In the course of the conversation, Pena 
admitted that there was more to his frustration about the 
transfer than just the possibility of subversion of the 
pursuit of justice.  Even though his new job in the appellate 
branch is technically a promotion, his salary will actually 
be less, and he will have fewer administrative support 
resources at his command.  Pena is also very concerned that 
he will lose the bodyguards he was given when he came to the 
Anti-Corruption Court, putting himself and his family at 
risk.  It would be unfortunate if this shake-up led the other 
anti-corruption judges to conclude that controversial 
decisions can push them out on a limb without police 
protection, and they end up not pursuing cases aggressively 
as a result.  END COMMENT. 
STRUBLE