Interior Minister clings to office and cooks more changes in the PNP

“At no time in my administration is there a single saying, a single order, a single sign that someone has wanted to hide.” This is how the head of the Interior sector responded yesterday in Congress, Dimitri Senmachewho made it clear that he is not going to resign his position after the notorious escape of former Minister of Transport Juan Silva, investigated by a criminal organization and his whereabouts are still unknown.

Senmache attended the Oversight Commission yesterday morning, in a session that lasted almost two hours. “I have not thought about it (resigning)”, he remarked before the parliamentarians.

The Minister of the Interior defended himself and insisted on revealing the escape of President Pedro Castillo’s friend. He pointed to the Public Ministry for delays and alleged leaks that would have allowed the president’s friend to escape. Senmache indicated that the Attorney General should also be summoned to Congress to point out “how much responsibility they have in this situation.”

“I cannot accept a responsibility that does not concern me, when the Public Ministry is the director and the executor of the investigations; the one who should keep this entire procedure in reserve”, he asserted, questioning, for example, the broadcast of the transcript of an audio in which it is heard that Silva would have received “one hundred grand” from the businessman Zamir Villaverde.

“If the Public Ministry already had all this evidence before May 26, instead of requesting a measure such as video surveillance, why did it not request the judge the measure of search, lockout and capture of this person?”, he questioned. Senmache.

Precisely, the minister made incidence yesterday in two edges to avoid assuming responsibilities: that the Police is an “operative arm” and that the person in charge and conductor of the investigations is the Prosecutor’s Office; and that video surveillance “is a motionless process” and that it is not the same as monitoring.

“(The Police) did not follow up because they could not do it since it is not part of the request for the video surveillance procedure (required by the Prosecutor’s Office). If the Police follow someone without a warrant, he is violating rights”, she apologized.

The Directorate against Corruption (Dircocor) of the Police recently reported Silva on June 4 as “not having occurred”, according to the chronology of events presented yesterday in Congress.

And Senmache stated that the preliminary arrest warrant against former Minister Silva was formally notified to the Police two days after being issued by the court, on June 6, emphasizing that without an order they could not act.

The minister assured that they are currently “using all the capacity that the Police have” to locate Silva and the other members of Castillo’s circle of trust; and that “if we could locate him today, we would. It is not so simple”.

“We are not afraid of stopping any of them,” he indicated at another point in his speech.

THEY COOK MORE CHANGES

Senmache, who made his debut as minister by cutting off the head of Vicente Tiburcio, then Commander General of the Police and who was close to capturing Bruno Pacheco, announced more changes in the PNP.

The Minister of the Interior held a meeting with the General Commander of the Police, Luis Vera, last Monday at the Government Palace. “(What issues did they deal with?) Issues precisely from the Police. There are going to be changes in the Police and that is what we have dealt with, ”he advanced in Congress, but did not provide further details.

His income to the Palace, in addition, occurred precisely when there was already a request for the arrest of Silva, but he assured that this issue was not addressed. The head of the Digimin and the head of the DINI also participated in these meetings, State Intelligence agencies that did not warn about possible leaks, despite the obvious.

NOT CONVINCED

The president of the Oversight Commission, Héctor Ventura, rightly questioned why Senmache did not want to assume “any administrative responsibility, let alone a political one”, and warned of shortcomings in his answers.

“The Minister of the Interior holds the Public Ministry responsible for all these irregular acts. (…) He does not want to assume any political responsibility in the face of these acts that unfortunately once again are destroying the image of the Police”, he criticized.

Ventura said that inviting the Nation’s prosecutor to offer his version will be evaluated.

KEEP IN MIND:

Congresswoman Martha Moyano (Popular Force) questioned why intelligence agencies such as the DINI have not warned about Silva’s eventual escape.

Sources from the Prosecutor’s Office assured that a report will be sent to the president of the Control Commission responding to the statements made by the head of the Interior sector. This will happen in the next few hours.

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