From: David Sangurima <sangu@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.latin-america
Date: 30 Sep 92 22:28 PDT
Subject: IPS:Peru: Former Pres Alan Garcia S
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1473800328:000:3844
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!sangu    Sep 30 22:28:00 1992


From: David Sangurima <sangu>
Subject: IPS:Peru: Former Pres Alan Garcia Summoned

/* Written 12:04 am  Sep 29, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "PERU: LEGAL PROCEEDINGS INITIATED A" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Trade & Finance
Title: PERU: LEGAL PROCEEDINGS INITIATED AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENT


lima, sep 25 (ips) -- peru's former president alan garcia was
friday summoned by the attorney-general's office here to appear
in court to answer charges of misappropriating state funds during
his administration.

garcia is charged with having illegal bank accounts abroad,
obtaining personal gain from the purchase of ''mirage'' fighter
planes from france and intervening in decisions related to the
depositing of funds from the peru central reserve bank in the
bank of credit and commerce internacional (bcci).

garcia, who is in voluntary exile in colombia, risks arrest if
he does not appear before the court by the date fixed.

carlos hermoza, the official charged with presenting the
charges against garcia, said that ''if the ex-president does not
appear in court, a warrant will be issued for his arrest and the
legal mechanisms for his extradition will be established.''

garcia went into exile in colombia in july, after declaring
that he was the victim of political persecution by the government
of president alberto fujimori, following fujimori's decision in
april to dissolve parliament and assume sweeping powers with the
support of the military.

supreme court judges stripped of their powers by fujimori had
thrown out a congressional request for a judicial inquiry on
garcia, whom the parliamentarians accused of fraud. the judges
said there was not enough evidence to back the charge.

in motivating its decision to dismiss the judges, the
government said they had acted without impartiality and recalled
that they either had been appointed by the garcia government or
were militants of his political group, the apra party.

the parliamentary accusation was based on charges formulated
by the attorney-general of manhattan district in the united
states, robert morgenthau, on the illicit operations of the bcci
in peru while garcia was in office (1985-1990).

morgenthau had said that the bcci paid out over three million
dollars in bribes to two former directors of the peru's central
reserve bank in exchange for obtaining over 270 million dollars
in federal reserve deposits in 1986.

he also charged that, in 1985, the bcci brokered the resale of
peruvian warplanes to an arab country, obtaining illegal gains
amounting to some 100 million dollars.

the resale deal denounced by morgenthau coincided with the
reduction from 26 to 12 of a set of mirage-2000 planes bought the
same year from france by the garcia administration. (more)
----


on friday hermoza asked the u.s. justice official to hand over
all evidence related to the garcia case contained in the
investigation of the bcci's activities begun in may 1989.

garcia's defence attorney, jorge del castillo, said the new
legal proceedings against garcia, the fourth attempt to lay
charges against the former president, were an error.

del castillo presented, also on friday, a suit against the
members of the court where the case against the former president
will be heard.

he explained that the suit calls for the suspension of the
proceedings against garcia and damages totalling 715,000 dollars,
payable to a foundation for children in peru.

deputy secretary general of apra, mercedes cabanillas,
dismissed the charge against the former president as unimportant.

''it is mean act. i would suggest to alan garcia not to return
to peru,'' cabanillas said. (end/ips/trd/so/aml-cs/kb/92)
----