Prosecutor Bersabeth Revilla’s resignation has gained special attention in Peru. First at the Public Ministry itself, where she had served for 40 years and from which she said goodbye to a shower of flowers and applause from her colleagues. Then, from the Peruvians themselves, who praised Revilla’s stance: she left office in protest of having been removed from a case in which she was investigating the attorney general’s sister, Patricia Benavides.
The farewell, this Wednesday (27), was marked by tributes made by what are now his former co-workers. Video that went viral on social media shows Revilla walking smiling down a hallway with a bouquet of flowers in hand and accompanied by her husband.
According to the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, Revilla was investigating Judge Emma Benavides, sister of the attorney general, for alleged crimes of bribery and illicit association. She and other magistrates are accused of having received money to free drug traffickers Roberto Gómez Herrera and José López Quispe.
Revilla was the second prosecutor to resign in Peru in just a few days. Over the weekend, Jesús Fernández Alarcón also left office after disagreements with Patricia Benavides. In both cases, the attorney general filed productivity reports indicating that attorneys were not “full-filling” their work. Experts, however, dispute the documents.
Patricia Benavides was elected Peru’s attorney general last month for a three-year term. She is at the forefront of an investigation against the country’s president, Pedro Castillo, which investigates an alleged corruption scheme in public works involving family members of the Peruvian leader and members of the government.
Castillo completes one year as president this Thursday (28th). He resists in office after two vacancy attempts for “moral incapacity” (a quicker removal process, different from impeachment), having been forced to change dozens of ministers and remaining at war with Congress and even with the party for the which was elected, Peru Libre.
