While the country is going through a serious political and social crisis, Peruvian justice has extended the preventive detention of former President Pedro Castillo, accused of corruption.
“The supreme court of preparatory investigation imposes thirty-six months of preventive detention on Pedro Castillo”, she announced, Thursday, March 9, on Twitter, specifying that the former head of state, whose detention was previously planned over eighteen months, was notably accused of being “the leader of a criminal organization”. The decision was announced by Judge Juan Carlos Checkley during a virtual hearing.
“We will do what the law allows me, we will appeal,” reacted Mr. Castillo, who attended from prison.
The magistrate also ordered a 36-month preventive detention for the fugitive former transport minister, Juan Silva, while an ex-housing minister, Geiner Alvarado, will remain free during the trial.
Mr. Castillo was relieved of his duties and taken on December 7, 2022 to Barbadillo prison, a mini-detention center for senior officials located in the premises of the police’s special operations directorate, east of Lima. .
“Unjust Sequestration”
At an earlier hearing on Tuesday, Castillo said he felt “unjustly kidnapped”, denying the corruption charges for which he will remain in jail. “I categorically deny being the author and being part of a criminal network. The only crime I have committed is serving my country as President of the Republic,” he pleaded.
In a vehement tone, he defended himself against the charges against him: “They will ask for thirty-six months in prison while I have been remanded in custody. I will reach 100 days of unjust confinement! »
The prosecution believes that Mr. Castillo was at the head of a network of corruption, money laundering and public procurement made up of his family and political environment. The 53-year-old former president was deposed and imprisoned in December 2022, accused of having attempted a coup by wanting to dissolve the Parliament which was about to oust him from power.
His fall and his replacement by his former vice-president, Dina Boluarte, provoked a wave of demonstrations across the country, which left around 50 dead and around 600 injured. Supporters of Mr. Castillo are demanding Ms. Boluarte’s resignation, the dissolution of parliament and new elections this year.
