"Peruvian official accused in ’88 slaying" Associated Press July 04, 2014
LIMA — The newly named Peruvian interior minister says he has no intention of resigning despite a formal accusation he took part in the 1988 murder of a journalist as an army intelligence officer.
Daniel Urresti proclaimed his innocence to reporters Wednesday night, hours after an online news outlet revealed that the case had been opened against him last year.
The victim was Hugo Bustios of Caretas magazine, who was ambushed by soldiers in the Ayacucho region while investigating extrajudicial killings of civilians during the nation’s conflict with Shining Path rebels.
‘‘I am completely innocent,” Urresti, 57, told reporters. “My hands are free of blood. I did nothing and have the right to the presumption of innocence.’’
According to court papers, Urresti allegedly headed a military patrol that ambushed Bustios and a colleague, who survived the attack. Two soldiers were convicted of the slaying in 2008, one of whom alleged that Urresti was among the killers.
Last year, a judge in Ayacucho approved the formal investigation of Urresti based on the testimony of two other soldiers.
Urresti acknowledged to reporters that he had been questioned by a prosecutor in Ayacucho.
At the time of Bustios’s death, Urresti was assigned to an army base in Castropampa, in a region of nearly daily combat with the Maoist-inspired Shining Path rebels, according to the court papers.
Urresti told reporters that President Ollanta Humala knew about the charges when he named him interior minister last month.
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