A Peruvian court has sentenced four people to between 15 and 35 years in prison for the murder of indigenous leader Quinto Inuma Alvarado, who was killed on November 29, 2023, in the San Martin region.
The Third National Collegiate Criminal Court found Genix Saboya, Limber Rios, Segundo Villalobos and Jerly Saboya responsible for the crime of contract killing against Inuma Alvarado. The court handed down 35 years in prison to Saboya and Rios, 28 years and four months to Villalobos, and 15 years to Jerly Saboya, who was convicted as a primary accomplice. The sentence was announced on Monday afternoon.
Prosecutors presented extensive personal, documentary and expert evidence during the oral trial to prove the defendants' responsibility for the killing, the court said. Other people traveling in the boat with Inuma Alvarado were also injured in the attack, including Axeldina Barbaran Tapullima, who was hit by shotgun pellets.
Motive behind the killing
The court determined that the defendants planned and carried out the killing because they opposed the human rights and environmental defense work Inuma Alvarado carried out in his community. The indigenous leader, known as an apu, had filed several complaints against the accused in an effort to stop deforestation and other crimes, including illegal drug trafficking.
Quinto Inuma Alvarado was recognized as a human rights defender by the Directorate of Human Rights Policy and Management at Peru's Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. After identifying multiple attacks that endangered his life and that of other members of the native Kichwa community of Santa Rosillo de Yanayacu, the ministry activated its Early Warning Procedure and granted him protective measures.
Killed despite state protection
Despite the preventive measures adopted by the Peruvian state, Inuma Alvarado was killed in an attack planned by the men now sentenced, the court found.
