A Peruvian court analyzes this Thursday whether former President Pedro Castillo should continue in jail. The Prosecutor's Office requests an 18-month extension of the provisional prison for the leftist leader, accused of rebellion and conspiracy after the self-coup attempt last week. The former president could be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison for these crimes, after trying to dissolve Congress and suspend the democratic order. The Prosecutor's Office also requests 18 months of preventive detention for former Prime Minister Aníbal Torres, as the instigator of the self-coup.
Castillo, imprisoned in a police station in Lima, expected to be released late Wednesday, when the seven days of preventive detention expired, but the Prosecutor's Office asks that he remain in prison for at least 18 months due to a risk of escape. The former president had requested political asylum from Mexico, whose president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had granted it, and he intended to take refuge in the Mexican embassy in Lima when he was detained by his own escorts.
This Wednesday, Castillo requested the protection of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). "Enough is enough! The abuse, humiliation, and mistreatment continue. Today my freedom is once again restricted with 18 months of pretrial detention. I ask the IACHR to intercede for my rights and the rights of my Peruvian brothers who demand justice," he said. the former president in a handwritten letter posted on his Twitter account. "I hold the judges and prosecutors responsible for what happens in the country," the letter added, referring to the protests unleashed throughout the country, which have already left eight dead and hundreds injured. The demonstrators call for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the dissolution of Congress.
Given the increase in tension and the deaths, the Government decreed a state of emergency nationwide for 30 days on Wednesday and Boluarte proposed advancing the general elections to December 2023.
However, neither of these two announcements lowered the tension. On the contrary. The protests and roadblocks continue, there are five airports closed and hundreds of peasants and indigenous supporters of Castillo go in marches and caravans to Lima with the aim of flooding the capital and joining the general strike called to demand the freedom of the leader of the left, who won last year's elections in a polarized election.
On the other hand, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry called yesterday for consultations the ambassadors of Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Bolivia, considering "an interference in their internal affairs" that the progressive presidents of these countries questioned the dismissal of Castillo.
