Peru Premier Reveals ‘Interrogation’ Room

Authorities on Tuesday revealed the existence of a soundproof underground interrogation center--long rumored to be a torture chamber--beneath the defunct headquarters of fugitive former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos.

“I cannot say if it was or wasn’t used for torture,” Peruvian Prime Minister Federico Salas told reporters after inspecting a system of underground cells at the National Intelligence Service complex. He had denied last month that the subterranean rooms existed.

“What I can say is that there are six cells, each measuring 4 by 2 meters, in a basement, as well as a room that was evidently used for interrogation,” Salas said.

Montesinos--a former power broker at the center of a scandal that prompted President Alberto Fujimori to vow to step down next year--has been in hiding.