(Lima) A Peruvian appeals court on Friday confirmed the 36-month preventive detention for former President Pedro Castillo, accused of corruption and detained since December for rebellion after an alleged coup attempt.
“The Permanent Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, chaired by César San Martín Castro, ratifies 36 months of preventive detention against former President Pedro Castillo Terrones, indicted for the alleged crime of criminal organization among others”, indicated on Twitter the account of the Supreme Court.
The 53-year-old ex-president must remain behind bars until December 2025, while the prosecution progresses in its investigations and decides whether he will be tried for the two crimes.
On March 10, Judge Juan Carlos Checkley announced in a virtual hearing the extension of Mr. Castillo’s preventive detention, from 18 to 36 months, for having tried to unconstitutionally dissolve Parliament, to intervene in the judicial system and rule by decree.
The former president then announced that he would appeal the court’s decision.
Two of Mr Castillo’s former ministers are also in pre-trial detention in connection with the corruption case.
Mr Castillo, a leftist and leader of a teachers’ union, denies the corruption charges and says he feels “unjustly kidnapped”.
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 former Peruvian president, who was elected in 2021 to govern until 2026, was removed from office 17 months into his term.
After the failure of his attempt to dissolve Parliament, Mr. Castillo was removed from office and taken on December 7 to Barbadillo prison, a mini-detention center for senior civil servants located in the premises of the operations directorate. special police stations, east of the capital Lima.
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 demand the resignation of Mr.me Boluarte, the dissolution of Parliament and new elections this year.