MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru: Targetting President Boluarte backfires on Prosecutor Villena

A private citizen argues that Presidents cannot be investigated while in office

A Constitutional complaint was filed against Peru's Attorney General Juan Carlos Villena for irregularities in charges he filed against President Dina Boluarte. The move will shield the head of state under investigation for corruption and has a meager 5% positive image.

 The case against Villena was submitted by private citizen Jhon Carlos Lopez Goicochea for an alleged constitutional infringement in the so-called Rolexgate scandal in which the head of state was pictured wearing pricy watches believed to be above her financial possibilities given her lifetime earnings as a civil servant before becoming Vice President. Villena contends Boluarte accepted the watches from Ayacucho Governor Wilfredo Oscorima in exchange for budget allocations.

Lopez Goicochea argued that the prosecutor's actions violated Article 117 of the Constitution which states that the President of the Republic cannot be charged with common or complex crimes while in office and clearly specifies that only treason to the homeland, shutting down Congress, hindering elections and the functioning of electoral bodies merit a legal remedy.

“The Attorney General of the Nation, in full fraudulent disregard of his main function of defending the legality of the constitutional precepts, formulates a constitutional accusation against the President for a common crime, contravening the spirit of the constitutional precept mentioned above. A fact that constitutes a fraudulent act on the part of the highest representative of the Public Prosecutor's Office in an evident and manifest constitutional infraction,” read Lopez Goicochea's submission, which also claimed that Villena committed prevarication.

The case is now for the Constitutional Court (TC) to decide whether a president can be investigated without violating the Constitution.

On May 27, Villena filed a constitutional complaint for bribery against Boluarte in the Rolexgate case after the preliminary investigation was completed by May 17.

There is consensus that Congress cannot approve the constitutional accusation at least until the end of Boluarte's term.

On Tuesday this week, Justice Minister Eduardo Arana urged Congress to move forward with a constitutional accusation against the Attorney General.

In June 2023, Congress disqualified Zoraida Ávalos for her failure to proceed against former President Pedro Castillo Terrones for alleged acts of corruption in his government, claiming that heads of state could be investigated while in office.