Tight security planned in Peru

BY LUCIEN O. CHAUVIN
Special to The Herald

  LIMA - Vladimiro Montesinos, Peru's former intelligence chief, will get a glimpse of his former life today as he is whisked across Lima by helicopter.

  Unlike the 1990s, when he ran the country's powerful National Intelligence Service, the police helicopter ferrying Montesinos will not be bringing him to the presidential palace or military headquarters for high-powered meetings.

  Instead, Montesinos, accused of creating a corruption network that bilked Peru of nearly $1 billion, will be traveling from his cell on a navy base to a recently built court in another prison, where his first public trials begin after months of legal haggling.

  Two additional helicopters will be used as decoys in case of an attempt on Montesinos' life and the National Police has mobilized more than 1,000 officers to protect the helicopter route from the ground. Dozens of sharpshooters will be stationed on the hills around the San Pedro prison.

  START DELAYED

  A lawyer who used the intelligence agency to infiltrate Peru's legal system during his 10 years in government, Montesinos managed to delay the start of his trials for nearly five months with numerous legal challenges.

  ''Montesinos is the champion of paperwork, presenting mountains of petitions to delay his day in court. This is his right, like any Peruvian, but the judges should have acted must faster on the petitions,'' Assistant Special Prosecutor Ronald Gamarra said.

  While the first two public trials against Montesinos, scheduled today and Friday, involve minor charges in the 60-plus caseload against him, for prosecutors they offer an indication of his manipulation of Peruvian bureaucracy for personal gain.

  In today's trial he is charged with helping his former girlfriend's brother get out of prison. Friday's trial involves funneling $25,000 in state funds to the election campaign of a former district mayor in Lima.

  STILL APPEALING

  Montesinos is still appealing both court appearances, arguing they are unnecessary because the maximum sentences are less than a sentence he received in July.
  Montesinos was found guilty in closed court for abuse of authority during his 10 years as security advisor and sentenced to nine years and four months in prison. He was also fined $2.85 million.

  The upcoming trials will be filled with much of the intrigue that characterized his decade-long stint in former President Alberto Fujimori's government (1990-2000).
  Montesinos was rarely seen in public, using the military and police forces to hide his movements.

  Montesinos will enter the specially built courtroom in the prison through a tunnel and will be protected by one-inch-thick bulletproof glass. He will return after the trial to his cell on the navy base at Callao, Lima's port. Montesinos was the mastermind behind the construction of the navy base's special maximum-security prison in the early 1990s to hold the leaders of Peru's two terrorist groups.

  BRIBE ON VIDEO

  The collapse of Montesinos' network began in September 2000, when a video was released showing him bribing former Rep. Alberto Kouri. Montesinos videotaped his dealings at the his agency's headquarters. More than 2,000 of his secretly taped videos, known as ''Vladivideos,'' led to the arrest of judges, generals, politicians and media owners.

  In early February, Kouri was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $145,000 for his dealings with Montesinos.

  The release of the Vladivideos forced Fujimori's resignation in November 2000. The former president lives in self-exile in Japan. After fleeing and months of hiding,
  Montesinos was arrested in Venezuela in June 2001 and immediately extradited to Peru.

  Special prosecutors are investigating more than 1,500 people for ties to the Montesinos' network. Former Attorney General Blanca Nélida Colán was recently sentenced for links to his corruption network.

  The anti-corruption courts are still piecing together cases against Montesinos that involve charges of drug trafficking and orchestrating a military death squad.

  These cases, which would carry 25-year sentences, are not expected to begin for several months.