Former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo to stand trial on charges of alleged rebellion

Peruvian justice announced on Monday that former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo will go to trial in a case for alleged rebellion for which the prosecution requested 34 years in prison. The former president is also being investigated in parallel for alleged corruption.

A judge of Peru’s Supreme Court made the decision, which cannot be appealed, after rejecting the request to close the case that had been filed by Castillo’s defense. The former president has been in preventive detention since December 2022 for three years given the two investigations against him.

The trial date has not yet been set. Castillo did not make any statements. AP He tried to contact Castillo’s defense attorney without receiving a response at the moment.

The rebellion case was opened against the former president following his attempt to dissolve the Peruvian Parliament on December 7, 2022, to prevent a vote seeking his removal from office. That same day, Congress removed him from office and his then vice president Dina Boluarte assumed power, sparking weeks of anti-government protests mainly in the south of the country.

Since then, Castillo has been held in a prison for former presidents located on one side of the capital.

Judge Juan Carlos Checkley began admitting evidence that will be used in the trial in a virtual hearing on Monday. In January of this year, the prosecution also requested 25 years in prison for Castillo’s former prime minister Betssy Chávez and 15 years for advisor Aníbal Torres.

The former president, a 54-year-old rural teacher who became president in 2021, also faces another investigation by the prosecutor’s office for alleged acts of corruption during his government that include, among other suspicions, irregular promotions within the military ranks and the appointment, without respecting the bases of a competition, of a consortium to build a bridge.

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