Peru court hands lengthy prison terms in killing of Indigenous Amazon defender

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A Peruvian court on Monday evening convicted four men of murder-for-hire and sentenced them to between 15 and 35 years in prison for the 2023 killing of Indigenous rainforest defender Quinto Inuma Alvarado, in a closely watched case seen as a test of accountability for violence against Indigenous and environmental defenders in the Amazon.

Genix Saboya Saboya and Limber Ríos Ruiz were each sentenced to 35 years in prison. Segundo Juan Villalobos Guevara, a timber operator whom prosecutors accused of ordering Inuma’s killing, was sentenced to 28 years and four months. Jerly Saboya Saboya, who was convicted as an accomplice, was sentenced to 15 years.

Inuma, a 50-year-old Kichwa leader, was shot and killed on Nov. 29, 2023, as he traveled by boat back to his community, Santa Rosillo de Yanayacu, in Peru ’s northern Amazonian region of San Martin. He was returning from a national meeting of environmental and land defenders. A woman traveling with him was also shot and wounded.

The ruling came nearly 1,000 days after Inuma’s killing. Tom Younger, Peru program coordinator at the Forest Peoples Program...