By Olamilekan FAWAS
The President of Peru’s highest court on Thursday announced his resignation, amid corruption scandals rocking the judiciary, local media reported.
“Duberli Rodriguez will step down from the Supreme Court of Justice, given the institutional crisis that the judiciary is experiencing,’’ he said in a letter published by the court on Twitter.
It reported that the president of the National Council of the Magistrature (CNM), an organ tasked with appointing judges and prosecutors, and three other members also announced their resignation.
Six of the seven members of the CNM have now stepped down, including three who have been implicated in corruption cases.
The scandal broke two weeks ago, when the news portal IDL Reporteros started publishing recorded conversations in which judges appear to negotiate favourable rulings in exchange for bribes.
Report says in one of the conversations, a judge seems willing to lower the sentence of an alleged child rapist or to acquit him.
The scandal prompted President Martin Vizcarra to sack his justice minister, Salvador Heresi, recently.
A Supreme Court of Justice judge was also detained, and another suspended, in mid-July.
Rodriguez, before announcing his resignation, told newsmen that he was considering the move to facilitate a reform of the judiciary to root out corruption.
“We have committed errors and negligence which have placed us in this situation of crisis,’’ Rodriguez said.
