The Permanent Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice confirmed the inhibition of supreme judges Juan Carlos Checkley Soria and Saúl Peña Farfán of the criminal process which involves Judge Enma Rosaura Benavides Vargas, who faces charges of specific passive bribery and illicit association to commit a crime, according to the document that La República was able to access. This ruling arises from the statements of the aspiring effective collaborator and former advisor to the former National Prosecutor, Jaime Villanueva, within the framework of the investigations into Patricia Benavides and Enma Benavides.
Supreme Judge Saúl Peña Farfán presented his inhibition in this casearguing that he had previously intervened in investigations related to the Benavides family, which affected his impartiality in the process. The magistrate based his request on sections d) and e) of article 53 of the Criminal Procedure Code, due to his participation in a restrictive measure of rights in a previous investigation that also involves Patricia Benavides.
The magistrate of the Supreme Preparatory Investigation Court, Saúl Peña Farfán, is leading the investigation of Patricia Benavides for the alleged crime of criminal organization.
For its part, the judicial entity also accepted the supreme judge’s request for inhibition Juan Carlos Checkley, who was also challenged at the request of the Second Supreme Prosecutor’s Office Transitory Specialized in Crimes Committed by Public Officials. The Prosecutor’s Office argued that there were indications of bias on Checkley’s part, based on rumors that he had favored Enma Benavides in the preparatory stage of the process.
However, the Supreme Court approved the inhibition presented by Checkley, which means that he was removed from the case not because of the recusal, but because of his own request for inhibition, citing reasons that affected his impartiality.
What did Jaime Villanueva say to make Judge Checkley present his inhibition?
At the end of 2023, after having been arrested by the Special Team of Prosecutors against Corruption in Power (Eficcop) during Operation Valkyria V against the Public Ministry, declared that the provisional supreme judge Juan Carlos Checkley would have agreed to archive the investigation against the superior judge Enma Benavides, sister of the prosecutor of the Nation, in a possible exchange for receiving favors in a judicial process that she faces.
After his arrest, Jaime Villanueva stated that Enma Benavides had reached an agreement with a supreme preparatory investigation judge. This pact consisted of an exchange of favors: the judge agreed to ratify the file of the investigation against Benavides, in exchange for the Prosecutor’s Office not initiating an investigation into alleged acts of corruption during his performance in the Superior Court of Piura.
Jaime Villanueva. Photo: IDL
Enma Benavides: why is the former senior judge being investigated?
Former senior judge Enma Benavides is being investigated for alleged ties with a criminal organization related to drug trafficking. She was accused of investigating several people investigated for drug trafficking. She is accused of having granted irregular procedural benefits while serving as senior judge of the National Criminal Chamber. This occurred between November 2012 and March 2015, in coordination with other magistrates and lawyers who acted as intermediaries.
Enma Benavides would be involved in an alleged judicial corruption scheme, in which actions were coordinated to favor certain defendants in exchange for bribes. The investigation against Enma is closely related to that of her sister, Liz Patricia Benavides Vargasformer national prosecutor, who is being investigated for crimes of criminal organization and corruption.
It is alleged that Patricia Benavides used her influence to interfere in the process on behalf of her sister, coordinating with judges, including Juan Carlos Checkley, to delay the case and obtain the dismissal of the accusations against Enma Benavides.
As a result of this investigation, Enma Benavides and Patricia Benavides were dismissed, since the former National Prosecutor decided to remove the prosecutor Bersabeth Revilla from this case without justified reasons, so the National Board of Justice He sanctioned them for having interfered.
