Dina Boluarte and several senior officials are targeted for their role in the repression of anti-government demonstrations which have killed 40 people since December.
The Peruvian prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday January 10 the opening of an investigation for “genocide” against the country’s President Dina Boluarte and several senior officials for the crackdown on anti-government protests that have claimed 40 lives since December.
State’s Attorney Patricia Benavides “decided to open a preliminary investigation against President Dina Boluarte, President of the Council of Ministers Alberto Otarola, Interior Minister Victor Rojas, Defense Minister Jorge Chavez”, announced the prosecution on Twitter. This investigation concerns facts of “genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries, committed during the demonstrations of December 2022 and January 2023 in the regions of Apurimac, La Libertad, Punon, Junin, Arequipa and Ayacucho”he added.
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The investigation also targets the ex-president of the Council of Ministers Pedro Angulo and the ex-Minister of the Interior César Cervantes, who had been part of the government of Dina Boluarte from December 7 to 21. A total of 22 people died in protests during those two weeks. At least 40 people have died and more than 600 have been injured in Peru in protests following the December 7 dismissal and arrest of leftist President Pedro Castillo, accused of a coup attempt for trying to dissolve the Parliament which was about to remove him from office.
The demonstrators demand the departure of Dina Boluarte, who succeeded Pedro Castillo, and the immediate holding of early elections. The epicenter of the protests is the Aymara (Amerindian people) region of Puno, on the border with Bolivia and on the shores of Lake Titicaca.
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