Eleven congressmen recommended with the PNP in appointing their bodyguards Statement | Roselli Amurus | Alejandro Soto | Congress | Defense Division | PNP | principle

Amurus sent a letter to the then head of the security wing of the Congress, Col. PNP Luis Ruiz Astahuman, who in turn sent a letter containing the names of non-commissioned officers of his choice. Police officers who are responsible for protecting it, as stated in the Home Ministry’s order.

Javier Bruno Espinosa, one of the non-commissioned officers requested by Amurus, is also not a member of the Congressional Security Service, but from the Kalaw Police Region.

The PNP appointed five of the eight non-commissioned officers he required and three others who did not appear in the official letter.

But the Amurus case is not the only one. From July 2021 to last September, the other 10 congressmen were to recommend with the PNP and appoint bodyguards of their choice. To achieve this, they have sent letters to the Ministry of Interior, the General Command of the PNP, the Directorate of State Security and the Congressional Security Branch. The documents were provided to El Comercio by the PNP through a request protected by the Transparency and Public Access to Information Act.

This is the office of Roselli Amurus:

In addition to Amurus, Parliament Speaker Alejandro Soto and Congressmen Raul Dorotio (popular action) and Ilyich Lopez (not party) were investigated for the Los Niño case.

The list is finalized by the legislators María Cordero (former Fuerza famous, now suspended), Magaly Ruiz, Rosío Torres (both accused of Alianza para el Progreso and ‘mochassaldo’), Aristela Obando Morgan (People’s Force), Jaime Quito (Not Group), Jose Luis Elias Avalos and Jose Luna Galvez (both Podemos Peru).

The PNP evaluated the requests of the members of Congress, some were approved while others were rejected or in process.

The Human Resources Directorate of the PNP intervenes and issues a resolution if the requested non-commissioned officers are not from the State Security Team but from other police units.

By order of the Ministry of Home Affairs, each congress has two non-commissioned officers as escorts; In practice, it is one per day as they work on a 24 x 24 system.

Members of the Board of Directors of Parliament enjoy different protections.

Mismanagement

The Managing Director of the Police Legal Defense Institute, lawyer Jesus Boma Zamudio, pointed out that the concerned congressmen had overstepped their powers.

“Especially if a police officer is required, they are abusing their prerogatives, which even merits the crime of abuse of power.”

Jesus Boma Jamudio, Managing Director of Police Legal Protection Institute

Former Home Secretary and former senior Congress official Jose Ellis explained that the post of bodyguards for members of Congress meets the risk assessment criteria.

Ellis pointed out that “employees should not and cannot be required to have their own names,” and asserted that members of Congress from previous administrations have engaged in this practice, “but it is neither routine nor appropriate.”

But current congressional chief Giovanni Forno sent a letter to the PNP on September 20, requesting that noncommissioned officer Adolfo Fo Aguero be assigned as a motorcycle rider to be part of Alejandro Soto’s bodyguard.

Forno noted that the aforementioned non-commissioned officer will replace Victor Estrada Escudero. In the letter, he did not elaborate on the reasons for the request.

Not trained

The PNP responded with another information request to El Comercio that non-commissioned officer Pho had not completed the security and safety training course when the request was made by a senior congressional official.

Lawyer Jesus Boma explained to this newspaper, “By requesting an officer who has not been trained with state security studies and experience for escort duty, the high command is putting at risk, and in turn, the human resource management in the PNP.”

Congresswoman Rocio Torres also requested an escort without the protection and security of a personality training course last August.

Torres wanted the PNP to assign him a non-commissioned officer working in the Northern Special Service Division of the Lima Police Region.

This Diario verifies that the non-commissioned officers requested by Ilich López, José Luna Gálvez and María Cordero do not currently belong to the Congressional Security Service.

The detailed requirements are:

Four of them reported at different times between July 2021 and last September that Cordero not only requested specific bodyguards but also mistreated those assigned to him.

Last October, El Comercio revealed the police reports that led to the charges against the legislator.

Between July 2021 and October, the PNP deployed at least 15 non-commissioned officers for security. Some she could not accept, others lasted a few days in office, until they gave up, retired or left for other reasons.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Jaime Guido told El Comercio that he asked the PNP last August that non-commissioned officer Richard Chaparo should continue to protect him. “I have asked for that to continue. It is not a question of interfering with decisions that the police may make. […] I am not suggesting at any time that it is at the discretion of the police that they should be forced to do so.

Congressman Ilyich Lopez said he would review the case, but declined to comment yesterday [domingo] Because – as he said – he was in a meeting. He didn’t help us again until posting this note.

Lopez requested a PNP non-commissioned officer currently working in the Criminal Directorate.

A source from Aristela Obando’s office told El Comercio that the lawmaker left with his incomplete protective equipment and requested the same bodyguard he had when he was a member of the Andean parliament.

This newspaper also tried to contact the other legislators who recommended the appointment of their bodyguards to the PNP, but there was no response till the time of publishing this note.