Political crisis in Peru: Pedro Castillo’s preventive detention extended to 18 months

The Court ruled that the former president of Peru Peter Castillodeposed and arrested for attempting a self-coup, remain in custody for 18 months, as long as the investigation against him lasts, as requested by the prosecutor Patricia Benavides. The lawyers of the ousted president did not attend the hearing, arguing that there were no minimum guarantees.

In a long process that began with a hearing called for Wednesday and then postponed to this Thursday morning, the supreme judge Juan Carlos Checkley He set the sentencing arguments for 5:00 pm (Peru time), which took him more than two and a half hours.

Here’s how he fixed it extend preventive detention until 6 June 2024 as long as the investigation lasts for alleged crimes of rebellion, conspiracy, abuse of authority and serious disturbance of the public peace. Castillo is being held on the outskirts of the National Directorate of Special Operations (Diores), about 25 kilometers east of Lima, where they informed clarion that there are two thousand troops.

While the judge read the sentence, Castillo made a post on the networks in which he spoke of the fact that the United States has ordered the new president to bring the armed forces to the streets.

“The visit of the United States ambassador to Government House was not gratuitous, nor was it for the benefit of the country. It was to give the order to bring troops into the streets and slaughter my defenseless people; and, incidentally, let the green light for mining operations, as in the case of Conga, Tía María and others. The Peruvian press will not only keep silent about this, but will easily deny it,” Castillo wrote.

As of Tuesday, Castillo had received visits from 139 people, including relatives, deputies, social leaders, lawyers and even friends, according to data from the Peruvian Ombudsman Office, an independent body. And on Tuesday the Ombudsman went to review the conditions of detention of the former president.

While Castillo refused to be informed and did not attend the hearing, his lawyer, Ronald Atencio, indicated through social networks that he would not attend the hearing due to lack of guarantees, among other arguments.

“With a vacancy, resolution to revoke the preliminary trial, requirements and judicial decisions validating serious effects on due process and effective defense, I find myself unable to remain as the lawyer of citizen Pedro Castillo Terrones. The historic trial will clarify everything, Atencio posted on Wednesday. .

A week of protests and 10 dead

The day after Pedro Castillo’s arrest, his defenders began to protest and clash several times with the police, who carried out a violent repression that has so far left 10 dead and hundreds injured, especially in the southern provinces of the country .

The current president Dina Bolarte, decreed a 30-day state of emergency for the whole country, which until Tuesday was in force in seven provinces of Apurímac, in the south of the country, where the most consistent protests have been registered in the last two days. They are Abancay, Andahuaylas, Chincheros, Grau, Cotabambas, Antabamba and Aymaraes of the department of Apurímac.

In turn, this Thursday the deployment of the National Police began trying to unblock the pickets on the Panamericana Sur and Panamericana Norte, after thousands of people were stranded for four days.

In what constitutes the most dramatic news, the National Children’s Institute of San Borja de Lima confirmed on Thursday the death of a minor who could not be transferred to this hospital in Huancavelica, in the south of the country, due to interruptions of current. .

“A child who should have been transferred yesterday from Huancavelica has just died for avoiding this transfer to Lima,” the director of the children’s hospital, Dr. Zulema Tomás, told America TV channel.

The director explained that other minors were held in ambulances for ten hours on the streets, due to the strikes that protesters are carrying out against the new president, Dina Bolaurte, the request for the closure of Congress and the release of former president Pedro Castillo , among other requests. .

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