REPORT No. 9/14 CASE 12.700 MERITS AGUSTIN BLADIMIRO ZEGARRA MARIN PERU April 2nd, 2014 I. SUMMARY 1. On May 16, 2000, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission,” “the Commission” or “the IACHR”) received a petition, which was lodged by Mr. Agustín Bladimiro Zegarra Marín (hereinafter, also “the petitioner” or “the alleged victim”), on behalf of himself, alleging violation by the Republic of Peru (hereinafter “Peru,” “the State” or “the Peruvian State”) of the rights enshrined in Articles 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 24 and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter also “the American Convention,” “the Convention” or “the ACHR”). 2. The petitioner states that charges were brought against him in 1994 and he was convicted in a criminal proceeding for alleged abuse of the authority to authenticate official documents (delitos contra la fe pública) in his capacity as a Commander of the Peruvian National Police (hereinafter “the PNP”). He alleges that, in the context of said proceeding, he was unlawfully deprived of his liberty and several of his fair trial rights were violated, particularly, the principle of the presumption of innocence. He further contended that, while the criminal proceeding was ongoing, the PNP decided to force him into retirement without first conducting any administrative proceeding or having any legal grounds to do so. 3. On March 19, 2009, the IACHR approved Admissibility Report No. 20/09, finding that the petition is admissible and that the facts alleged by the petitioner as to reversal of the burden of proof in the criminal proceeding and his conviction based on his inability to totally prove his innocence, could tend to establish violations of the rights provided for under Articles 8 and 25 of the American Convention in connection with the obligations set forth therein under Article 1.1. The Commission also found that the petition is inadmissible as to the alleged violation of the rights enshrined in Articles 5, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 24 of the American Convention. 4. During the merits stage, the petitioner has alleged that his conviction was based solely on a statement made by a co-defendant and did not take into consideration the many other testimonies and evidence proving his innocence. The petitioner emphasizes that the burden of proof was reversed in the judgment and that one of the legal grounds cited for the conviction was that he had not totally proven his innocence, in violation of the American Convention and the Constitution and laws of Peru. He contends that he challenged this conviction by filing a motion to set aside the conviction, but the conviction was upheld on December 17, 1997 by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court and, on September 14, 1998, he filed a motion to review the conviction with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Justice, which was denied on August 24, 1999, on technical procedural grounds. 5. In response, the State alleges that Mr. Agustín Bladimiro Zegarra Marín had the opportunity to clarify his bail status, which was set by the judiciary in keeping with criminal procedural law in effect at the time, the Political Constitution of Peru and the international human rights protection