The Attorney General’s Office of Peru has filed a constitutional complaint against Jorge Luis Salas Arenas, the serving president of the National Electoral Tribunal (JNE). The allegations implicate Salas Arenas in an unethical exploitation of his office, thereby, causing harm to the Peruvian state. The complaint has been the result of preliminary investigations by the Attorney General’s Office about events that can be traced back to 2017, when Salas Arenas was a Supreme Court of Justice judge.
The statement publicized on X (formerly known as Twitter) indicates that the complaint against Salas Arenas pertains to his activities while he served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Justice. A key aspect of the claim suggests Salas Arenas guaranteed employment for his former advisor Pavel Cárdenas Peña under Walter Ríos Montalvo, who held the position of the president of the Superior Court of Justice of Callao back then.
Ríos Montalvo is a significant figure related to the “Cuellos Blancos del Puerto” case, an instance of alleged corruption within the Peruvian justice system that came into light in 2018. The ongoing investigation against Salas Arenas received valuable information in January of this year from the First Office of the Special Prosecution Team. They are presently investigating the “Cuellos Blancos del Puerto” case.
Peruvian newspaper, El Comercio, which had access to the text of the constitutional complaint, has reported that the Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that Cárdenas Peña served as Salas Arenas’ trusted secretary between February and November 2017. He then started to work at the Superior Court of Callao with Ríos Montalvo’s approval, until October 2018.
The constitutional complaint by the Attorney General’s Office was submitted to the Peruvian Congress. This initiates the Antejuicio process against Salas Arenas as a member of the Supreme Court of Justice, as prescribed in Articles 99 and 100 of the Political Constitution of Peru. Amendments presented by Law 31988 assign the Peruvian Chamber of Deputies the jurisdiction over such processes. In the Antejuicio process, Congress ascertains the admissibility of the accusations; if affirmed, the individual under scrutiny is subjected to a criminal trial before the Supreme Court.
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