(Lima) The Peruvian public prosecutor announced on Tuesday its intention to open an investigation against President Pedro Castillo at the end of his mandate for suspicions in particular of influence peddling and collusion.
“The Attorney of the Nation, Zoraida Avalos Rivera, opened a preliminary investigation against the President of the Republic, José Pedro Castillo Terrones, for having committed the alleged offenses” of aggravated influence peddling, and of collusion “against the administration. public, ”the public prosecutor said in a statement.
But the procedure will be suspended until the end of the president’s five-year term, 2026, because of the “absolute immunity” conferred on him by his position in Peru.
The suspicions are linked to three cases in particular.
In the first case, Mr. Castillo is accused of having “intervened inappropriately and indirectly” in a public tender for the construction of a road bridge over the Huallaga River, located in the region of San Martin, in northern Peru.
In the second, the public prosecutor accuses him of having intervened in a process of acquiring biodiesel on the local market for the period January-April 2022, “so that the company Heaven Petroleum Operator, headed by the businessman Samir Abudayeh, wins a contract for an amount of 74 million dollars ”.
In the third case, for which he is suspected of “influence peddling and illegal sponsorship”, the president is said to have exerted pressure to promote military officers sympathetic to his left-wing government.
Mr. Castillo, in power since July 28, narrowly defeated right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori in the presidential election. Its mandate is due to end in 2026.