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********** PERUVIAN JUDGE DENIES EARLY RELEASE FOR DAVID DE VINATEA Evangelical Army Officer Will Spend Christmas in Jail, Despite Presidential Clemency by Deann Alford

AUSTIN, Texas, December 21 (Compass) — A Lima judge has declared Colonel David de Vinatea’s bid for habeas corpus “unfounded,” a ruling that ends hopes of early release for the evangelical Christian and former military officer who has served more than seven years in prison on charges of drug trafficking.

Judge Ana Maria Portilla of the first penal court of Lima handed down her decision early on December 20. The ruling comes one day after de Vinatea’s lawyer, Gino Romero, asked Portilla to reconsider her initial decision denying his bid for habeas corpus.

Habeas corpus, a determination of whether a person’s imprisonment is in accordance with constitutional rights, is the final appeal open to persons convicted on felony charges.

De Vinatea, 50, a decorated colonel in the Peruvian army and member of a Christian and Missionary Alliance church, is serving a prison sentence for crimes he says he did not commit. A coalition of international Christian organizations, citing many judicial irregularities in his case, believes de Vinatea is an innocent victim of a plot to protect highly placed, corrupt officials in the government of former President Alberto Fujimori.

“Actually (this ruling) was what we expected,” said de Vinatea’s wife, Chely. She believes the judge wanted the family to pay a bribe for his freedom, else Portilla would not have annulled her first ruling issued on December 19, only to announce the same ruling yesterday.

Mrs. de Vinatea said her husband is depressed by the prospect of spending another Christmas in Lima’s Lurigancho Prison and just wanted to go to sleep after he learned that his legal recourses had been dashed.

“Nothing has changed judicially (under the present government),” Mrs. de Vinatea said. “It’s worse than before because now each judge just does what he wants to do.”

In 1995, after leading a successful military campaign against drug trafficking in the Peruvian jungle, de Vinatea himself was accused of collusion with traffickers and jailed. He was later sentenced to 16 years in prison. In March 2002, President Alejandro Toledo commuted the sentence to eight years. De Vinatea is now set for release on November 29, 2003.

De Vinatea’s American lawyer, Stephen Guschov, visited him in Lurigancho the day before the judge’s ruling. Guschov said that it has been difficult for de Vinatea to lead chapel services because his heart is heavy.

“It’s another Christmas without his family,” Guschov said. “There are just a lot of people who don’t want to see him get out.”

“God has his timing, and his plan,” Guschov said. “It’s also easy for us to say that, without having to live it.”

***Photos of David de Vinatea, Mrs. Chely de Vinatea and their three children, are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct for pricing and transmittal.

********** Copyright 2002 Compass Direct

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