[the] crimes of terrorism and conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.” 167 The private hearing in this
proceeding was held from May 19 to June 9, 1993. 168
102. On June 18, 1993, the “faceless” Lima Superior Court of Justice, in a judgment concerning
several of the accused, decided to acquit Ms. J. “owing to lack of evidence […] for the charges
brought against her for the crime of terrorism and conspiracy to commit a terrorist act against the
State,” indicating that she should “be released immediately.” In that judgment, 11 of the accused
were convicted, 17 were acquitted, and the proceedings were held in reserve against 65 persons. 169
103. In particular, with regard to Ms. J., the Lima Higher Court of Justice took into account that:
“[t]he accused denies the charges”; the accused “states that the building on Las Esmeraldas
adjoining Palermo was up for sale or rent”; the accused indicated that the record of the search by
the representative of the Public Prosecution Service establishes that “when she arrived on the day
of the police operation, ‘there were only two girls,’ referring to [Ms. J.] and Mery Morales Palomino”;
the accused indicated that “there was a contradiction between the record [of the search of the
building on Las Esmeraldas and other search records] which mention the same time as that at
which the building on Las Esmeraldas Street was raided] and also, with a difference of mere
minutes, the same representative of the Public Prosecution Service appears in other searches in
different and distant places”; “according to the testimony of the carpenter Dimas Tembladera Vilca
[…] the said premises were totally unoccupied and he had worked there for three months according
to the contract that appears [in the case file]”; “according to a document […], the said accused
signed a contract with WGBH-TV, a Boston public television station, as production assistant for a
documentary on Peru”; “they obtained […] permission to operate from the Military Region”; “the
weapons seized in the home of the accused […] were acquired by her father for self-defense”; “the
father of the accused, […] in his testimony, […] corroborated his daughter’s statement with regard
to the weapons, adding that the bullets and cartridges found with them also belong to him”; the
accused “denies emphatically that she is the owner or possessor of the compromising
documentation attributed to her”; the accused denies “knowing Luis Durand Araujo, who she had
never seen before, [and] the latter, also accused […] corroborates this version, clarifying that he
was arrested in the Parque de Lince,” and “the case file contains the expertise [on the handwritten
documents found], which concludes that this writing does not correspond to the said accused.” 170
The judgment finds that:
[H]aving assessed the evidence provided, it must be established that, although the charges are specific and based
on seizures of subversive material ready for distribution, the exculpatory evidence and other documents are of
such consistence that they weaken the charges to the point that doubt arises and, consequently, the judge must
apply the said benefit in this case. 171
167
Decision of the Lima Superior Court of Justice of February 1, 1993 (file of annexes to the answering brief, annex 46,
folios 3764 and 3765). The same day, the decision was notified to Ms. J.’s lawyer. Cf. Notification of the decision of the Lima
Superior Court of Justice of February 1, 1993 (file of annexes to the answering brief, annex 47, folio 3767).
168
Cf. Record of the hearing on May 19, 1993 (file of annexes to the State’s brief of June 24, 2013, annex 19, folios 4753
to 4756); record of the hearing of June 2, 1993 (file of annexes to the State’s brief of June 24, 2013, annex 20, folios 4758 to
4767); record of the hearing of June 7, 1993 (file of annexes to the State’s brief of June 24, 2013, annex 21, folios 4769 to
4784), and record of the hearing on June 9, 1993 (file of annexes to the State’s brief of June 24, 2013, annex 22, folios 4786 to
4796).
169
Cf. Judgment of the Lima Superior Court of Justice of June 18, 1993 (file of annexes to the answering brief, annex 48,
folios 3784 and 3785).
170
Judgment of the Lima Superior Court of Justice of June 18, 1993 (file of annexes to the answering brief, annex 48,
folios 3773 to 3775).
171
3775).
Judgment of the Lima Superior Court of Justice of June 18, 1993 (file of annexes to the answering brief, annex 48, folio
33