LIMA – The Peruvian judiciary convicted the former leftist president on Thursday Pedro Castillo Imprisonment for more than 11 years for the crime of rebellion due to his failed coup attempt in 2022.
The former president was acquitted of crimes of abuse of power and disturbance of public order. The Attorney General’s Office had requested 34 years in prison For all fees.
The Supreme Court decided to “convict José Pedro Castillo Terrones As co-author of The Crime Against State Authorities and the Constitutional Order “In the form of conspiracy to rebel (…) and as such, the convicted person shall be sentenced to effective imprisonment for a period of 11 years, 5 months and 15 days.”
Castillo had been on trial since last March due to his announcement on December 7, 2022. Dissolution of Congress, formation of an emergency government, and intervention of the judiciary, This is what the Attorney General’s Office described as a violation of the constitutional order. By closing Parliament, he was trying to avoid a vote that called for his removal due to “permanent moral incapacity.”
On the same day, the police arrested the then president after he left the government palace. When he was heading with his family to the Mexican embassy, According to the reconstruction of the events shown in the judicial file. Congress immediately removed him from office.
Castillo has survived two other previous takedown attempts. barely He spent 16 months in government He reshuffled his cabinet five times with more than 60 changes of secretaries, causing internal paralysis.
The trial included testimonies from former officials, police officers, and members of the president’s personal guard. Which details Castillo’s orders and the circumstances of his arrest. The former governor was also facing other investigations over corruption allegations.
Castillo, rural teacher and trade unionist, He won the 2021 elections in the second round against Keiko Fujimori, Daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000).
He was the first president of Peru without ties to the elites. But his government, which raised hopes for reforms in a country where a third of the population suffers from poverty, It faltered, swept away by accusations of corruption.
His fall led to the rise of his deputy to power Dina Bolwarti It unleashed violent protests that left more than 50 civilians dead due to repression by state forces. Bolwarti was sacked last month by Congress.
Since his departure from power, Castillo has been complying with the court order Preventive detention In the prison for former presidents located inside a police base east of Lima.
Since the start of the trial, Castillo has denounced being a “kidnapped president” who was the victim of a “coup by Congress.” “I did not come to ask for clemency, let alone forgiveness in my case, I only asked for justice.” He said this in his closing arguments before the court last Friday. This Thursday, he received the sentence quietly, accompanied by his lawyer, according to television images.
About two dozen supporters approached the prison door carrying signs. “We suffer for our president because… He did not steal a single sun “(Peruvian currency), there is an innocent person imprisoned here, we demand justice,” said Julia Buendia (54 years old).
Castillo will even be in prison On May 21, 2034, Knowing that he faced trial in prison three years ago. His former ministers were also convicted Betsy Chavezprotected at the Mexican embassy, And Willy Huerta.
In the same week, Peruvian justice sentenced another former president, Martin Vizcarra (2018-2020), to 14 years in prison for receiving bribes while he was governor of a province in the south of the country, a few years before he became president.
In this way there are now four Peruvian presidents in power Prison sentences Currently: Alejandro Toledo, Ollanta Humala, Martín Vizcarra and Pedro Castillo.
AP and AFP agencies