International
The Government of Peru proposes to qualify extortion, kidnapping and hitman as terrorism
The Government of Peru presented this Thursday a bill that qualifies as “urban terrorism” the crimes of extortion, kidnapping and hitman, in response to the wale of crime denounced by carriers and business unions.
The bill includes modifying several articles of the Criminal Code “in order to strengthen actions to combat citizen insecurity,” for which it proposes a tougher sentence, which includes life imprisonment if whoever commits this type of crime belongs to the Armed Forces or the National Police.
The Peruvian Executive announced that it was going to send this project to the Legislature a week ago, when the transport union made a strike in Lima to protest against the wave of extortion.
For its part, the business union affirmed that organized crime has formed a “parallel government” that is “winning the battle” against the State and destroying the country.
The legislative document, signed by President Dina Boluarte, will have to be debated and voted on in Parliament.
‘Urban terrorism’
He defines urban terrorism as the conduct consisting of “acts that generate terror or anxiety in the population or in a sector of it” through the crimes of hitman, conspiracy, offering for hitman and extortion.
For this, article 315-C is incorporated into the Criminal Code, proposing that the penalty of imprisonment applied to said offense should not be less than 30 years.
It will be life imprisonment, when those who commit it belong to the Armed Forces or Police, “weapons, war material or explosives are used, this type of weapon owned by the Armed Forces or the Police is used and those who use minors or unimputable people to commit the crimes.”
It proposes to modify article 200 of the Criminal Code so that anyone who commits extortion receives a prison sentence of between 15 and 20 years.
“Anyone who, through violence or threat, forces a person or a public or private institution to grant the agent or a third party, an undue economic advantage or other advantage of any other nature, will be punished with a prison sentence of not less than fifteen years or more than twenty years,” the document specifies.
Members of the Armed Forces and the Police
As for the hitman, it establishes that “the one who kills another by order, commission, or agreement with the purpose of obtaining for himself or for another economic benefit or of any other nature will be repressed with a penalty of imprisonment of not less than 30 years and disqualification.”
In the same way, it will be life imprisonment if “a minor or another unimpeachable person is used,” he orders a criminal organization, weapons of war are used, when the victims are two or more people or two or more people intervene in the execution.
Finally, the legislative initiative includes a final complementary provision, which establishes that members of the Armed Forces and the Police who are denounced during states of emergency for acts carried out in fulfillment of their functions “will be investigated and, if applicable, prosecuted as provided for in article 173 of the Constitution.”
This implies that they will submit to the jurisprudential jurisdictions corresponding to the Police and the Military Justice.
International
Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case
A Dominican court on Monday postponed until March a preliminary hearing against the owners of a nightclub that collapsed last year, killing more than 200 people.
The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early hours of April 8, 2025, during a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who died along with 235 other people.
Jet Set owner and manager Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel, who served as the club’s administrator, were arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter but were later released on bail after posting approximately $842,500.
Both appeared at the Palace of Justice, where they were met by a small protest from relatives and friends of the victims.
“Thirty years in prison is not enough” and “President, we want JUSTICE,” read signs held by demonstrators.
The preliminary hearing determines whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. The court decided to reschedule the hearing for March 16.
“We don’t want money and we’re not demanding anything else, only justice for those who died,” said Secundino Pérez, a 75-year-old shopkeeper who lost 12 friends in the Jet Set tragedy.
“Antonio and his family celebrated Christmas sitting at a table, celebrating their freedom,” said Edgar Gómez, who lost his daughter in the collapse.
The Dominican Republic’s Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the defendants “significantly altered” the structure of the nightclub. Prosecutors filed formal charges in November and requested that the case proceed to trial.
The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of three months to two years in prison.
“May your conscience never let you sleep. I lost my son,” a woman shouted through tears before the hearing, while others chanted, “Murderers, murderers, murderers.”
International
Venezuelan opposition leader dedicates Nobel Prize to Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that he was “eager” to welcome the opposition leader, who left Venezuela clandestinely with U.S. assistance, to receive her Nobel Prize in Oslo.
Machado dedicated her Nobel Prize to Trump, who nevertheless showed a very cautious attitude toward including her in any potential political transition in Venezuela.
The opposition leader said on Monday, after an audience with Pope Leo XIV, that “the defeat of evil is closer” in Venezuela following the U.S. military operation that overthrew and removed President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the country.
Trump has claimed that he is now in control of the South American nation, stating that the primary objective at this stage is to stabilize the country before considering elections.
Venezuelan oil is Washington’s main objective, Trump added after Maduro’s overthrow.
International
Police hunt gunmen after fatal shooting in Corsica
A man was shot dead on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, local media reported. The victim was identified as Alain Orsoni, former president of local football club AC Ajaccio, according to sources close to the investigation cited by French news channel BFMTV.
Orsoni, 71, was killed in the town of Vero, near Ajaccio, the island’s capital, while attending his mother’s funeral.
He was also a former member of the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC), a nationalist organization that has long sought independence for the island, reports said.
BFMTV reported that the gunmen fled the scene and remain at large. Local police have opened an investigation into the shooting.
Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case
Venezuelan opposition leader dedicates Nobel Prize to Trump
Police hunt gunmen after fatal shooting in Corsica
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