Peruvians Remember Journalist Killed by the Fujimory Regime

On Monday, human rights defenders gathered in Lima's San Martin Square to demand a trial against those responsible for the murder of Melissa Alfaro, a journalist killed on Oct. 10, 1991, during Alberto Fujimori's dictatorship (1990-2000).

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"Melissa, present! We want the oral trial, now!" shouted a crowd of people while marching. "How long do we have to wait for justice? Thirty years is not enough?" said the victim's brother Igor Alfaro outside the National Criminal Court (SPN).

The event "Melissa Alfaro Mendez, 30 Years Without Justice" was organized by organizations such as the National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP), the Coordinating Committee Against Impunity (CCI), and Self-Convened Photographers.

The Justice system had set an oral trial for July 18, 2019. However, Julio Salazar, the former head of the National Intelligence Service (SIN), filed a complaint because he disagreed with the term "crimes against humanity". This caused the judicial process to be further delayed, and the hearing did not take place.

Alfaro was a college student and head of news at the Cambio weekly newspaper. Thirty years ago, while she was entering the building where she worked, she took a large package of newspapers wrapped in an envelope. A few minutes later, she opened the envelope, which contained 200 grams of gelatin dynamite. Its explosion caused her instant death.

During Fujimori's regime, this type of assassination was often used to silence journalists and human rights defenders who denounced cases of corruption and crimes against humanity.

Currently, the Alfaro case process includes as defendants the former Commander of the Armed Forces Pedro Villanueva, former President Alberto Fujimori, and his former adviser Vladimiro Montesinos.