The leadership of the subversive group Shining Path, led by Elena Iparraguirre, the wife of the late founder of that organization, Abimael Guzmán, will be sentenced this Monday by a Peruvian court, following an oral trial that began in 2021, for the alleged commission of the crimes of terrorism and illicit drug trafficking.
The ruling for the so-called 'Perseo case' will be delivered by the Fourth National Criminal Appeals Chamber of the National Superior Court starting at 10:00 AM (15:00 GMT) on Monday. In this process, which includes Iparraguirre, considered the 'number two' of Shining Path, and 43 other people, Guzmán was also included until his death in prison on September 11, 2021.
The Prosecutor's Office has requested that all members of the Shining Path leadership be sentenced to life imprisonment and that 20 years of prison be imposed on the other defendants, attributing to them the crimes of affiliation with a terrorist organization and illicit drug trafficking to finance terrorist activities.
The accusation claims that the Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights (Movadef), a group that attempted to register legally with the National Jury of Elections (JNE) in recent years, acted under the orders of Shining Path and received funding from drug terrorism activities.
The trial began in May 2021 and included Guzmán and Iparraguirre, as well as other Shining Path leaders such as María Pantoja, Osmán Morote, Margot Liendo, Victoria Trujillo, and Florindo Flores Hala. The same charge was made against Alfredo Crespo, Fernando Olórtegui, Oswaldo Esquivel, Juan Ríos, Estela Guillermo Álvarez, and Nerida Espinoza, among others, in their capacity as members of the National Permanent Committee of Movadef.
Guzmán and the main leaders of Shining Path were arrested by the Police in Lima in 1992 and have since been sentenced to various sentences for terrorism, which included life imprisonment in the case of the founder and the main leaders.
After the arrest of the 'historic' leaders, the remnants of Shining Path concentrated in the mountainous jungle of the southern part of the country, where they currently move in alliance with drug trafficking, according to Peruvian authorities.
The Maoist group Shining Path was considered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR) to be the main responsible party for the more than 69,000 victims left by the internal armed conflict in Peru (1980-2000).
