Peru's ex-spy chief stays silent

  BY LUCIEN O. CHAUVIN
  Special to The Herald

  LIMA - Vladimiro Montesinos, the former head of Peru's intelligence service, had his first day in court Tuesday, but it was his former girlfriend and codefendant who received the attention.

  Jacqueline Beltran, who began testifying shortly before the hearings ended for the day, accused Montesinos of sullying her name and reputation for his own personal gain.

  ''I simply reject everything he says,'' Beltran said.

  Turning to Montesinos, seated a chair away and staring straight ahead, Beltran added, ``Be a man and deny what I'm saying. All of this silence is your revenge against me.''

  Montesinos looked noticeably grayer than the last time he appeared in public six months ago. During this trial he is facing a charge of influence peddling, a minor offense among the dozens of charges against him that include corruption, drug trafficking, arms dealing and directing a death squad.

  FOCUS OF CASE

  This case focuses on charges that he helped Beltran's brother, Felix Pérez, get out of prison in 1997 and interceded on behalf of her uncle, Antonio Vera, in a 1998 lawsuit with a local bank.

  Beltran, 34, denied that she asked Montesinos to help her family.

  ''He prohibited me from talking to people about us or his work. I had no idea what was going on,'' she said.

  He could get five years if convicted. Montesinos, dressed in a blue silk shirt and dark slacks, showed no expression as he faced a three-judge panel and heard the charges against him.

  In what appeared to be a continuation of his strategy to foil prosecutors, Montesinos entered a written statement in which he exercised his right to remain silent and
  challenged the impartiality of the judges.

  During the first hours of the trial, the judges heard arguments from Montesinos' lawyer that his legal rights had been violated.

  CODEFENDANT'S TALE

  Beltran said she met Montesinos in the mid-1990s, when she began working as a secretary in the intelligence service. When Montesinos fled Peru in September 2000 after his corruption schemes started to unravel, Beltran was with him. He spent a month in Panama, before returning to Peru and fleeing again aboard a yacht. He was arrested in June 2001 in Venezuela and deported immediately to Peru.

  Beltran has been in jail since mid-2001, accused of illicit enrichment. Her mother, America Ortega, said she was ``confident that my daughter will be exonerated when the truth is known.''

  While Montesinos did not speak, the prosecutor read testimony from him implicating Beltran on charges of influence-peddling.

  He asserted that she personally asked that he help her brother and uncle.

  Prosecutor Pablo Sánchez questioned Beltran's uncle, Antonio Vera, about his relationship with Montesinos. Vera said he met Montesinos at a party thrown by his niece.

  Vera said he explained his legal problems to Montesinos and asked for his help in resolving a lawsuit he had filed against Peru's Banco de Credito. Vera won his first case but lost an appeal in the Supreme Court.

  Prosecutors also contend that Montesinos used his intelligence post to extend his control over Peru's justice system. Several former Supreme Court judges and an attorney general are serving prison sentences after having been linked to Montesinos.

  He arrived at the San Pedro prison shortly after 7 a.m. He was handcuffed and wore a bulletproof vest to protect him from a possible assassination attempt.

  More than 1,000 police officers, including dozens of sharpshooters and mounted police officers circling the barren hills around the prison, provided security.

  Montesinos was found guilty in a closed courtroom last July of abusing authority.

  He was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison, and received a fine of $2.85 million.

  This report was supplemented with material from The Associated Press.