Andean Group
The imprisoned leader of the left-wing guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso, Abimael Guzmán, faces a retrial on 5 November. The trial comes twelve years after he was convicted of orchestrating a systematic rebellion to undermine the state and overthrow the government. Guzmán was convicted in 1992 by a hooded military tribunal. Nobody seriously expects a different verdict.
The retrial of Guzmán has been on the cards since January 2003 when the constitutional court ruled that sentences for terrorism offences handed down by military courts during the term of now-fugitive former president Alberto Fujimori were unconstitutional. The government of President Alejandro Toledo was left with little option: it could scarcely be seen to be challenging the Inter-American Court of Human Rights after having returned Peru to its jurisdiction.
In addition to Guzmán, 17 other top leaders of Sendero Luminoso will face retrial, including Guzmán's lover, Elena Iparraguirre, and Oscar Ramírez. It is worth underlining that there is no great sympathy in Peru for the plight of the imprisoned members of Sendero Luminoso and the Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru, however questionable the manner in which they were tried and convicted. The retrials are expected to last some six months.