Special Terrorism Court convicts María Magdalena Monteza Benavides
María Magdalena Monteza Benavides was sentenced on June 18, 1993 by the Special Terrorism Court to 20 years in prison for terrorist collaboration, a sentence that was reduced to 15 years by the Supreme Court in 1994. She received a presidential pardon in 1998 after it was determined that she probably had no terrorist links and had been a victim of torture during her detention.
On June 18, 1993, the Special Terrorism Chamber of the Superior Court of Lima sentenced María Magdalena Monteza Benavides to twenty years imprisonment for the crime of terrorist collaboration, based on the police investigation. On March 11, 1994, the Supreme Court of Justice modified the sentence and sentenced her to fifteen years imprisonment. María Magdalena had been detained in October 1992 and reported having been a victim of torture and rape during her detention by members of the Army. On June 6, 1998, the President of the Republic granted her a pardon on the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Commission created by Law 26655, which established a reasonable presumption that she was not linked to terrorist activities and that there was evidence of physical and psychological mistreatment during her detention.