The Special Electoral Jury (JEE) of Lima Centro 1 initiated a sanctioning procedure against the presidential candidate José Daniel Williams Zapataof Country advances, after noticing the alleged omission of relevant information in its Affidavit of Resume (DJHV), presented for its candidacy for the 2026 general elections.
“To order the initiation of the sanctioning procedure against Mr. José Daniel Williams Zapata, presidential candidate for the national electoral constituency, presented by the political organization Avanza País – Social Integration Party, for allegedly having omitted to register in its DJHV, because he would be immersed in the cause of exclusion provided for in the Regulations for the Registration of Formulas and Lists of Candidates for the General Elections and of Peruvian Representatives before the Andean Parliament 2026,” the operative part reads.
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According to the document, the inspection of resumes detected that Williams did not record a final criminal sentence for the crime of qualified homicide (murder).
The report supports this decision in an official communication from the Judiciary that indicates that the candidate Williams records a criminal record for a sentence issued by the Unipersonal Criminal Court of Lima. According to this information, the sentence would be in execution, which could not only be a punishable omission, but could also constitute grounds for exclusion from the electoral contest.
The electoral regulations are clear. The omission of sentences for intentional crimes in the resume does not allow any form of correction or subsequent correction and has the direct consequence of the withdrawal or exclusion of the candidate, without the application of fines or other alternative sanctions. In this sense, the sanctioning procedure opened by the JEE has the only outcome exclusion possible, provided that the infringement is confirmed.
Furthermore, the JEE points out that now the representative of Country Advances You have a maximum period of one calendar day to present your corresponding defenses. After the deadline, the body may rule on the existence or not of the infraction, even if the party fails to present its defense.
What is the sentence that José Williams did not testify about?
According to the information sent by the Judiciary to the Special Electoral Jury, José Williams Zapata records a final criminal sentence for the crime of qualified homicide. The conviction is linked to events that occurred during the internal armed conflict, specifically in the case Accomarcaone of the most serious massacres perpetrated by the Peruvian Army on August 14, 1985, in the region Ayacucho.
That day, an Army patrol entered the community as part of an operation and murdered 69 farmers, including women, children and the elderly, who were not participating in armed actions. According to judicial investigations and reports later collected by human rights organizations, the military gathered the residents, locked them in homes and opened fire, then set fire to some houses with people inside. The victims were charged without proof to collaborate with Sendero Luminoso. Years later, it was determined that there was no evidence to support said accusation.
