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Luna said that he is grateful for Alejos' help and support of de Vinatea, which has resulted in a "step in the right direction." However, despite the best efforts of Toledo and Olivera, the government is choosing politics over justice in not freeing him immediately, Luna said.

De Vinatea's plight has been the subject of international prayer, awareness, and letter-writing campaigns by Open Doors and other Christian organizations since he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 1995. Christian legal experts cite irregularities in the charges against de Vinatea and evidence against his superiors linked to Fujimori's former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, who is now also in prison. Advocates are convinced de Vinatea is innocent.

"Truth and justice are absolute and should not be subject to negotiation," Luna said. "It makes one wonder if there is a hidden pressure related to the case against Montesinos, who interestingly enough has rejected every connection with drug trafficking. Apparently part of his proof is that de Vinatea is in prison."

Open Doors is preparing what Luna called a "worldwide mobilization" of thousands of Christians and human rights advocates to support de Vinatea's case.

"The government has a great opportunity to fully implement its slogans of moralization and anti-corruption in this test case, as it has recently done in terrorism cases," Luna added.

Evert Schut, vice president of the Netherlands-based SALT Foundation, said the terms of the commutation were a letdown, especially after he met with Olivera in Lima in September to plead de Vinatea's case. Schut also was part of a delegation of Christians from the United States and Europe that traveled to Lima in December to appeal to government officials in de Vinatea's behalf.

"Despite all the previous promises by President Toledo, I am not impressed by this offer of commutation," Schut said. "It reflects the attitude that the main concern is politics and not justice. And justice is what this country needs."

When asked whether her husband was despondent at the news of his case, de Vinatea's wife Chely said, "We are very disappointed but not despondent. No, on the contrary. He wants this case to keep going forward. We still have to put all our force in this and keep fighting."

Copyright © 2002 Compass Direct

More on David de Vinatea and information on how to help is available from Open Doors.

Previous Christianity Today coverage of the case includes:

Imprisoned Peruvian Army Colonel Denied Parole Evangelical convicted of drug trafficking continues fight for justice as hope fades. (Sept. 1, 2000)

WorthyNews.com recently reported, "An added complication is that the state is currently more focused on those wrongly accused of terrorism, and less concerned with those convicted of narco-trafficking."

Visit the homepage of the Embassy of Peru.

The U.S. Library of Congress offers a country study of Peru.

For more Christianity Today articles on Peru, see World Report.

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January (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46