Peru: Captured Shining Path leader accepts responsibility for over 100 deaths
Captured Shining Path leader Florindo Flores Hala aka Comrade Artemio (Photo:Andina)
On Thursday, captured Shining Path leader Florindo Flores Hala aka Comrade Artemio, accepted responsibility for the death of 56 soldiers, 43 policemen and 32 civilians.
According to El Comercio, Artemio acknowledged his responsibility after prosecutor Marco Guzman read him the 27 police reports against him. The reports date as far back as 1989, and as late as last year.
"I accept everything," Artemio said, according to El Comercio.
"I accept the facts as chief of the Huallaga Regional Committee. What you have read are facts of war."
When asked why he had ordered the killing of civilians, Artemio said they had been traitors.
"They weren’t ordinary civilians. They were informers, collaborators of the security forces, traitors to the [Shining Path] party, criminals who extorted others using the name of our organization, common criminals, and homosexuals," he said.
Artemio also admitted to being responsible for the death of two judicial authorities, who were killed in 2005 and 2007."It was a mistake. We did not know that these authorities were in official vehicles that were ambushed by the party [...] the goal was to attack the police, because they are a belligerent force," Artemio said.
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