Global Courant
Former President Pedro Castillo has been accused of “carrying out a coup” after he tried to dissolve Congress in 2022.
Peru’s public prosecutors have formally requested a 34-year prison sentence for former President Pedro Castillo, who was dramatically removed from office and arrested following his attempt to dissolve Congress in late 2022.
Castillo, whose removal sparked months of deadly protests that hit the copper-rich country’s key mining sector, remains in pre-trial detention.
On Friday, the Public Prosecution Service wrote on social media that it was demanding a prison sentence for “crimes of rebellion, abuse of authority and serious disturbance of public peace.”
In the request submitted to the court, Castillo is accused of “perpetrating a coup d’état.”
Castillo, a former teacher from rural Peru elected in 2012, was the Andean nation’s first leader with no ties to elites and was hailed as the country’s first poor president.
Once he assumed the position, the leftist leader became embroiled in a power struggle with the opposition-led Congress and was accused by the attorney general of running a criminal organization involving his family and allies that exposed public handed out contracts for money.
Before his removal in December 2022, Castillo said the plan to “temporarily” dissolve Congress was intended to “restore the rule of law and democracy” in the country.
However, opposition politicians said the decision violated Peru’s constitution, and Congress voted overwhelmingly to remove him from the country’s top post.
Castillo has argued that he was the victim of a political conspiracy between the right-wing opposition and the attorney general.
“I never took up arms,” he has said in court hearings since his arrest.
Castillo was replaced by his vice president, Dina Boluarte, who faced protests as some called for her to resign and hold early elections.
A crackdown by security forces killed around 50 people, according to an estimate by Human Rights Watch, which accused Peruvian authorities of extrajudicial and arbitrary killings.
While Boluarte faces an investigation into the demonstrators’ deaths, she will retain her immunity until her term ends in 2026.
