This was imposed by the Peruvian supreme judge Juan Carlos Checkley 36 months of preventive detention for former president Pedro Castillowho is already in jail for his failed coup, while under investigation for a corruption case.
During a virtual hearing, Checkley said the measure was “appropriate” because it’s not a common process, but one that is highly dangerous” and explained that the former president, detained for 18 months in preventive detention for the self-coup, ran into obstruction of justice through intimidation of witnesses, which also reached the attorney general herself, Patricia Benavides.
This new preventive detention measure will be calculated in parallel with the one imposed in December 2022 for the alleged crimes of rebellion and, alternatively, criminal association, for the failed coup attempt. Judge Checkley said so there are serious and well-founded elements of condemnation of the former presidentthus the first budget to issue a pre-trial detention order has been met.
The second condition is that the possibility of the sanction exceeds 4 years. For this case, the deputy supreme prosecutor Galinka Meza, representative of the special team against corruption in the food sector, estimates that Castillo Terrones could receive a 32-year sentence.
“The penalty to be estimated, given that in a real competition the commission of the crimes is attributed to Mr. Castillo Terrones, we have that the sum, pursuant to article 50, allows us to establish that the penalty to be imposed, in the case (of ) that it is — in one assumption —, he would be sentenced to a 32-year prison sentence,” Meza said in an earlier hearing.
The cause
Preventive detention against the former president responds the pressure exerted for the appointment of an official without the technical profile as general manager of the state-owned Petroperú, as well as the cancellation of an international tender for the purchase of biodiesel and its award to a specific company.
Similarly, the appointment of former Minister of Transport and Communications Juan Silva, a fugitive from justice, with the alleged intention of taking over that ministry with related officials who facilitate “manage projects” of infrastructure, responsible for this portfolio.
Similarly, the judge cited the two million soles (half a million dollars) that businesswoman Karelim López said she delivered to Castillo, through her advisers in the Government House, to be favored with an allotment of public Works.
Checkley stated this “Castillo had a key stake” in these “unlawful conduct”.
With regard to Castillo’s risk of flight and entrenchment, the supreme judge specified that the arrest of the former president, last December, took place “when he attempted to seek asylum at the Mexican embassy”, which was corroborated by the public statements by the ambassador in Lima and by the Mexican president himself, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Castillo’s wife and two minor children were taken in by López Obrador and granted asylum there, hours after the failed coup.
With regard to the attachment, the magistrate recalled that Castillo does not have a current real address and that Barbadillo prison cannot be considered, where he has been locked up since December, as is his current addressas requested by your attorney.
Castillo denies
In the previous diligence, last Tuesday, Castillo denied “outright and categorical” who is the author and is part of a criminal organization formed during his government (2021-2022), as accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in arguing his request for 36 months of preventive detention against him.
“I categorically and categorically deny that I am the perpetrator and that I am part of a criminal network, the only crime I have committed is to serve my country as President of the Republic,” Castillo said in a virtual hearing convened by Judge Checkley.
“I have not committed any crimeJudge, Peru knows, people know, that today even those who brought the constitutional accusation would still be part of this alleged criminal organization, because they mostly passed through the offices of the presidential office,” he said.
He rejected that the prosecutor’s request was based on a possible flight risk when, he said, he was “in a maximum security prison” and that he has no family roots, since his wife and children are applicants asylum in Mexico.
“There is no danger of escape heremy roots today are this place (the prison)”, he reiterated before telling the judge that “he must demonstrate that he is on the side of the people, not on the side of the enemies”.
The prosecutor also requested 36 months of pretrial detention for former transport and construction ministers Juan Silva Villegas and Geiner Alvarado López, respectively.
Silva, a fugitive from justice since last year, is accused of the crime of conspiracy and simple competition, while Alvarado is indicated as the alleged perpetrator of the crime of conspiracy.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.