general accusation for the crime of terrorism, without indicating any legal basis other than articles
316 and 322 of the Criminal Code.
290. In addition, regarding the conducts attributed to Ms. J., it can be observed that, during the
first stage of the proceedings, the charges brought by the Public Prosecution Service did not specify,
on an individual basis, the illegal conducts attributed to Ms. J., but rather they indicated, in general,
with regard to several persons, that “the other accused […] were responsible for the tasks of
printing, editing, distribution and circulation of the voice of Shining Path, El Diario; while others of
the accused were in charge of writing some of the article included in the said newspaper in order to
disseminate the ideology and other plans of [Shining Path]” (supra para. 101). The February 1993
decision that declared that there were grounds to proceed to an oral hearing does not specify the
408
During this first stage of the proceedings, the most detailed
conducts for which they will be tried.
document concerning the conduct that can presumably be attributed to Ms. J. is the police
attestation. 409 Despite this, the Court underscores that neither the indictment nor the police
attestation or any other document that appears in the case file before the Court attributes a specific
terrorist act to Ms. J., on an individual basis, providing the circumstances of time and place (other
than those relating to her arrest) as the typical description of the offense for which she was being
tried at that time would require (supra para. 70).
291. Subsequently, during the second stage of the criminal proceedings against her, Ms. J. has
been accused of the offenses of apology of terrorism (article 316) and membership in a terrorist
organization (article 322) (supra para. 109). In this regard, according to the decision of December
20, 2004, which expanded the preliminary investigation against Ms. J (supra para. 110) and the
2005 indictment of the Public Prosecution Service (supra para. 111):
She is accused of being a member of the terrorist group, Communist Party of Peru “Shining Path,” having acted
as the person responsible for the process of the writing, editing and coordination with foreign journalists for the
production of the clandestine newspaper El Diario, which was intervened on April 13, 1992, in the building on
Las Esmeraldas Street […], together with Jorge Luis Durand Araujo and Mery Palomino Morales, with the seizure
of subversive propaganda, and handwritten and typed documents referring to the subversive group, as verified
in the [respective] search record. [The other searches conducted and the evidence found are also described, all
of which] proves her participation in the dissemination of the newspaper El Diario [following which some
evidence relating to this newspaper is described,] and, in this way, it is concluded that El Diario was at the
service of the armed struggle launched by the PCP-Shining Path, and, in this case, [J.] was fully aware of this,
collaborating in the writing, coordination with national and foreign journalists, for the dissemination of the
terrorist activities of Shining Path in the country, through the newspaper El Diario.” 410
292. The Court notes that the description of the supposed illegal conduct of the presumed victim
is almost identical to that used during the first stage of the proceedings in which she was being
prosecuted for other offenses. In addition, the Court considers that this description of the facts is
not sufficiently precise to ensure an adequate defense on the part of the accused. In addition, it
notes that it is not possible to infer from the accusation the act of terrorism or offense that Ms. J.
had endorsed, as required by the criminal norm under which she is being accused (supra para.
70). 411 In this regard, the Court stresses the observations of the Peruvian Constitutional Court that:
408
Cf. 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).
409
In the police attestation of April 25, 1992, J. was accused of being a member of “the terrorist organization
Shining Path occupying […] the position of leader […] of this clandestine organization, and being responsible for the
process of writing, coordination with national and foreign journalists, for the dissemination of the terrorist activities of ‘SP’
by means of the clandestine newspaper El Diario.” Cf. Attestation No. 084–DINCOTE of April 25, 1992 (file of annexes to the
answering brief, annex 23, folio 3622).
410
Report No. 040-05-05-3FSPN-MP-FN of the Third National Superior Criminal Prosecutor of September 29, 2005 (file of
annexes to the answering brief, annex 58, folios 3924, 3967, 3968), and see also the decision of the Second Supraprovincial
Criminal Court of December 30, 2004, in case file No. 641-03 (file of annexes to the answering brief, annex 57, folios 3889 and
3968).
411
Article 316 of the Criminal Code establishes: “[a]nyone who publicly endorses a crime or a person who has been
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