Patricia Benavides Defense Strategies: Legal Perspective on the Controversies and Accusations

—How could Patricia Benavides return to her position when today we know, from the testimony of lawyer Eduardo Roy Gates, that she was working on her sister’s defense even using State resources, such as the hours of her advisors?

What the colleague said is a lie that will be evidenced by the statements of those mentioned, that is, (José Luis) Hauyón, Enma Benavides and Patricia Benavides. Additionally, it is very easy to check the security videos of the building where the meeting would have taken place. Dr. Patricia Benavides has had nothing to do with the intervention of Dr. Roy Gates and there is not a single State resource or fund involved. The jurisprudence is extremely clear: State personnel do not constitute either a resource or wealth as the object of the crime of embezzlement. This is another loose piece of information that is leaked from the prosecution to try to cover up a real fact: the case is deflating.

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—Are you telling me that Roy Gates never coordinated with Benavides the media defense of his sister?

Patricia Benavides never coordinated the media defense of her sister Enma Benavides with lawyer Roy Gates. She has remained unaware of it, especially considering the questions that, from the beginning, were raised about her sister’s case. Yes, there was a meeting between Roy Gates and Enma, but Dr. Patricia was not part of that meeting.

—And the statements of Jaime Villanueva? Does he narrate an evident lobby with congressmen in exchange for removing the National Board of Justice and shielding Benavides? There are the conversations with José Balcázar, with the president of Parliament himself, Alejandro Soto. Can he really return to his position with those accusations?

Villanueva’s statements remain a saying and it will be simple to verify by listening to the parliamentarians involved. Villanueva’s version is a lie launched in the context of his arrest and under the desperation of achieving his freedom at all costs. Without an accusation, on December 7 she was removed from the Public Ministry. We are notified on January 9 with the beginning of a preliminary investigation and when we access the tax folder, the first thing we want to see are the conversations, and what we observe is that the famous chats from May 2023 are two sheets printed on paper, two screenshots delivered by special agent Roberto. From May to November absolutely nothing was done.

Christian Salas, one of Patricia Benavides’ lawyers. Photo: GEC / Alonso Chero

— It could be that everything was being done in reserve…

No, because it should have already been revealed. On November 14 there is a record in which Roberto delivers a USB that contains those chats, but not as a copy of his cell phone. Features screenshots of Roberto’s clipped conversations with Jaime Villanueva. In total there are 69 screenshots, in JPG format and that is what has been sealed. We don’t have a sequence of chats here; We have photos of various conversations, from various dates, from May to June and since there is no source, it is not known if these chats are original. With these screenshots, this media scandal was created and Dr. Benavides ended up being suspended.

— Could there be a reserved folder that you don’t know about?

It’s not possible.

– Because?

Because that effective collaborator already said everything he had to say at the level of Marita Barreto’s office. On January 17 – in the supreme level investigation – Mr. Villanueva declared that these initial statements cannot be corroborated because he has eliminated the device. He says that he has broken the cell phone and thrown it away for parts. Villanueva’s statement was used as the great excuse to suspend Patricia Benavides in this summary process. What we have here is a case put together by the personal appetite of the team’s prosecutors and police officers. Why is everything activated in November? Because there is a formal official record from November 10 where the Attorney General, in a meeting with all the coordinators of the various specialized areas, explains that the Public Ministry is being affected. In the third point, all the coordinators unanimously ratify the decision of the Attorney General to remove Dr. Barreto from the coordination.

—Why did the National Prosecutor’s Office need to be endorsed by 14 coordinating prosecutors?

I didn’t need to, it was an act of transparency. Benavides does not have to justify his changes, but he does and explains the reasons. According to Benavides’ version, Marita Barreto herself asks him for two weeks to organize her cases and hand them over. What a coincidence that after November 14 onwards the minutes begin? In these two weeks, all the investigation and search for evidence are carried out. Jaime Villanueva’s video surveillance begins after Benavides’ meeting with the 14 prosecutors.

— Today it is known that Villanueva gives a new cell phone with a different chip at the San Pablo clinic, but at that same moment the police raid his home and his father receives a call from advisor Girao. The police realize that something strange is happening and they would have told Jaime Villanueva that his father was going to be involved in the investigation and he, scared, would have handed over the original cell phone…

But that is not the cell phone he used for the conversation. That conversation does not exist on that cell phone.

—Why are you so sure?

Because Villanueva has declared that all his statements regarding communications with Patricia Benavides were on the other cell phone that he broke. There is a special procedure folder for effective collaboration, without a doubt, and we do not have access to it. If that information was available, it would have already been referred to the Supreme Court, because they have to provide all the information linked to the National Prosecutor’s Office; If not, the procedure is vitiated. We are going to request that agent Roberto be summoned to testify. He has to tell us why those chats do not have the complete conversation and he will have to recognize that he is a criminal, because he was an influence peddling. If Dr. Patricia were guilty, this action would not be in her best interest.

—If the TC agrees with her jurisdictional claim, would that annul the JNJ’s suspension of Benavides and would she have to return to the prosecutor’s office?

Definitely. It is the principle of legality.

— In the event that Benavides manages to annul his suspension as supreme prosecutor, will he seek to return to being the nation’s prosecutor?

It’s not that I’m looking, it’s what corresponds. If the action is declared void, it must be reinstated. The more time passes, the more difficult.

—Don’t you think that Barreto’s removal was a delicate issue due to the cases you saw? Barreto was watching the cases linked to Castillo. Wasn’t it better for Benavides to give an explanation to the citizens instead of bringing it out at midnight?

He doesn’t take it out at midnight on the day of the operation. The decision to withdraw it is dated November 10. At the time it could have been better exposed; He could have been better informed, without a doubt. The context shows that a case had been made and, obviously, Dr. Benavides was not going to allow whoever was doing it to remain in the case.

— Benavides complains bitterly about being identified as the leader of a criminal network. But hasn’t that been the same method that she used in the case of Pedro Castillo?

In the case of Pedro Castillo, there are concrete facts, there are not only statements from collaborators and it is not a single collaborator. In the case of Castillo, we have several collaborators who have provided vouchers, documents, cell phones. The information content has been extracted. Look at the difference with Mr. Villanueva and Agent Roberto.

Christian Salas, one of Patricia Benavides’ lawyers. Photo: GEC / Alonso Chero

—You are still a lawyer for the Fuerza Popular party, right?

Definitely. In the case of cocktails and the case of the 2021 campaign.

—And now he is Benavides’ lawyer. Don’t you feel like he’s conflicted? Doesn’t it give more arguments to Benavides’ critics, who claim that she has obvious political ties?

Not at all, on the contrary. There are even opinions that indicate that this Roberto is a Fujimori congressman. So where is that compatibility?

— Is Roberto a member of Fujimorism?

I refuse to think that a parliamentarian who defends democracy has helped build this case. If it turns out to be true, the Fuerza Popular party itself will be a victim of all the political consequences that this will generate.

—How to understand the defense strategy of the former National Prosecutor? She said in the interview to be appointed supreme prosecutor that the case of her sister Enma was a parallel line and that she would not get involved. After becoming the nation’s prosecutor, she removed prosecutor Revilla, who was overseeing the case of her sister. There are doubts about her thesis and she never shows the document…

The fact that the Attorney General changes one prosecutor for another does not mean that the investigation is being hindered. We have to eliminate the idea that prosecutor Pérez is the only one who knows the case, he is the only honest one and that removing him will mean affecting the investigation. All prosecutors have the same capacity and I say this not only for the Revilla case, I say it for Rafael Vela, Domingo Pérez or Marita Barreto.

—But you are aware that it lends itself to a lot of suspicion…

Suspicion is clarified with facts and that is what we seek: to clarify as soon as possible. The further away the clarification of the truth gets, the further away justice is.

Christian Salas, one of Patricia Benavides’ lawyers. Photo: GEC / Alonso Chero

— The former prosecutor of the Nation has said that political forces have motivated her departure. What forces?

The sector called caviar is the most satisfied with this situation. Patricia Benavides was uncomfortable for her interests. Let us remember that this sector is strategically located in various levels of the State. It is a group of officials who during the Castillo era made an absolute silence regarding serious acts of corruption. A sector that supported the former prosecutor Zoraida Ávalos, in relation to the fact that she should not be disqualified because, according to them, she had not omitted her role.

—Why would the caviar sector want the recovery of power in the Public Ministry?

There are many reasons, one of them is that the agreement with Odebrecht is not discovered. Who has been the main defender of keeping this confidential? José Domingo Pérez, Rafael Vela, Pablo Sánchez Velarde. Where are you now? Repowered. Benavides, instead of seeking alliances and arranging criminal behavior, what he did was do his job, nothing more. He did not seek to become friends with Dina Boluarte when he could do so.

—In exchange, he reported her. Do you agree with that report?

I do not agree with the murder charge. I don’t agree, but he did it and it’s his job. The strange thing and what would speak ill of her is that, to look good to everyone, she filed. In due course we will see how to establish the figure of mediate authorship in action.

—Why do you think Otárola sent greetings to Jaime Villanueva when a journalist intercepted him?

Weird, no? How did you know about the ‘Philosopher’? Why did he know him? Why did he send greetings? This case has aroused too much suspicion and Otárola will also have to testify. Patricia Benavides is not a criminal. She is not the leader of a criminal organization and this will be clear at the end of this process. He has greatly respected the prosecutor Marita Barreto, I have known her since when she was a prosecutor; but what has happened cannot be admitted. Before any sympathy there is respect for the law. No one can have a case that makes your life miserable, that has happened and we cannot allow it.

2024-01-21 18:31:27
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