The Presidency’s press office indicated that lawyer Wilber Medina Bárcena has not been appointed, nor does he perform the functions of advisor or adviser to President José Jerí Oré, in response to a query from La República.
Wilber Medina, who recently represented former mayor Rafael López Aliaga, the president of the JNJ, Gino Ríos, and the presidential candidate Phillip Butters, published on his social networks that he rejected Jerí’s proposal to serve as Minister of Justice, but that he would act as his advisor.
“Clarification: I thank President @josejeriore for calling me for the Justice portfolio. For personal reasons I declined and opted for the 2nd option. For now I will be a presidential advisor. I congratulate the ministers of the Álvarez cabinet, I am sure they will carry out good management,” wrote Wilber Meduna on his “X” account.
The next day, on journalist Milagros Leyva’s program, Medina mentioned the topic again: “I have been summoned by President José Jerí Oré. He called me on Sunday, at 4 in the afternoon, to invite me to be part of the cabinet,” he said.
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Different versions
On October 23, in the program “Trueba de fuego” on Radioprogramas, Medina appeared as a “presidential advisor” to give his opinion on the demonstration on Saturday, October 25, which included a tribute to rapper Eduardo Ruíz Sanz, who was killed by a bullet in the anti-government protest on October 15.
Wilber Medina defended PNP non-commissioned officer Luis Magallanes Gaviria from his social networks, alleging that he shot in self-defense and that his intention was not to kill anyone.
When the expert report was published indicating that the rapper Eduardo Ruíz died from the bullet that Magallanes fired and ricocheted off the victim’s body, the lawyer called the prosecutor and the magistrate, who had ordered the arrest of the police officer, terrorists: “Out with the prosecutor and judge as terrorists,” Medina wrote.
From the press office of the Presidency, they responded to this newspaper: “The man in question (Wilber Medina Bárcena) is not a presidential advisor.”
The legal regulations published in the official newspaper “El Peruano” have also not recorded the appointment of Medina to any position as presidential advisor or advisor.
The entry of Wilber Medina does not appear in the visit registry of the Government Palace.
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It’s just a matter of paperwork
When asked why Medina was presenting himself as a presidential advisor or advisor, the Presidency press responded: “They would have to consult him (Medina) himself.”
That’s what The Republic did:
“Are you an advisor to the transitional president José Jerí Oré?” he was asked.
“It’s the meaning. Counseling. The president told me that he wanted to have my presidential counsel. Counseling, but counseling is basically the appropriate term,” said Medina.
“(But), they are still formalizing the internal documents. In other words, it is not something that is done from one moment to the next. This presidential council previously goes through a whole internal issue of documentation, etc., and finally a supreme resolution comes out,” he specified.
“So, the president has talked to me about that possibility and I have told him that I would be happy to support him, for which purpose he is carrying out all the internal procedures to formalize the president’s wish and request,” said the lawyer.
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Putting bullet
On June 9 of this year, La República reported that lawyer Wilber Medina Bárcena organized a private party for his birthday at his residence in La Molina. Among the most notorious attendees was the former mayor of Lima, Rafael López Aliaga, and Vladimiro Montesinos’ front man, Alberto Venero Garrido, who hid millions of dollars in bribes in Switzerland and Luxembourg, among other countries.
Medina has been a defender of former President García, ran unsuccessfully for Congress for an alliance made up of the Peruvian Aprista Party and was also a candidate for the Constitutional Court. He served as lawyer for the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima and for former mayor López Aliaga.
When asked about the questioned actions of the police in the repression of anti-government marches, on Radioprogramas he assured: “The maladjusted are treated as such. The first alternative is: at the first stone the police officer must use the weapon and shoot. That is what the police have to do.”
