Prosecutors have rejected the guilty pleas of two women who attempted to smuggle €1.7 million worth of cocaine out of Peru.
Michaella McCollum (20) from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, and Melissa Reid (20) from Glasgow, pleaded guilty behind closed doors yesterday when they appeared before a judge in the port town of Callao, near the capital Lima.
Prosecutors have asked for more information before accepting their admissions of guilt, which the women hope will bring their sentence down six years and eight months in prison.
Rejecting Ms McCollum and Ms Reid’s guilty pleas, Peruvian state prosecutor Juan Rosas said: “the state prosecution considers that they [Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid] have not fully accepted the charges”.
“They will be asked to give another statement before the judge explaining where the drugs came from, who supplied them and why they said they had been forced to carry them by an armed gang.”
According to Peruvian law, “a confession of guilt is valid only when it is sincere and there is a full acceptance of responsibility”. It is on this basis that Mr Rosas has refused to accept the women’s guilty plea.
“They have simply accepted the transport of drugs, but their initial claim that they were both forced to do this against their will and that they had been kidnapped, has not yet been clarified.”
Mr Rosas said that if the women continue to maintain they were kidnapped, coerced and intimidated, these claims should be investigated by the authorities.
The prosecutor added that if Ms McCollum and Ms Reid wanted to take advantage of “early termination” of their case, “this is one aspect that should be absolutely clear”.
He added that from the state prosecutor’s point of view, “at no point were [Ms McCollum and Ms Reid] kidnapped, threatened or coerced”.
“This is a version to excuse guilt and it is not credible.”
“If they continue to maintain this version of events, the prosecutor will not accept that they take advantage of early termination.”
Mr Rosas said that the prosecution will present a report to the judge asking for a new date to be set for a hearing to determine, “if they want to reconsider their version and accept fully the charges put by the prosecution”.
The two women’s lawyer, Meyer Fishman, refused to comment on this latest development.
If the judge accepts the prosecutor’s petition then the two women will not be sentenced on Tuesday October 1st. The judge may decide to hold a further hearing on that date or set a new date.
“Early termination” implies that there is no trial once the prosecution and defence reach an agreement. The judge then emits a sentence based on the agreement reached by both parties.
According to Article 296 of the Peruvian Penal Code both could receive a sentence of between 8 to 15 years in prison. Early termination allows for the number of years to be reduced, which in Ms McCollum and Ms Reid’s case might mean a sentence of 6 years and 8 months jail time.
During Tuesday’s hearing at the Sarita Colonia jail in Callao both women accepted the charges put forward by the prosecution and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking after being charged with having 24lbs of cocaine in food packets hidden inside their luggage when they were arrested last month.
Ms Reid’s family has previously said they are working with the British Foreign Office in the hope that the Peruvian authorities will allow her to serve part of her sentence in the UK.
Both women, who had been working on the Spanish party island of Ibiza this summer, have been held at the harsh Virgen de Fatima prison in Lima. Court officials have said they may be transferred to the equally tough Santa Monica women’s jail once they are sentenced.
Additional reporting: PA