Ex-president of Peru Pedro Castillo. JAVIER TORRES / AFP
A Peruvian appeals court on Friday upheld the 36-month preventive detention for former President Pedro Castillo, accused of corruption and detained since December on charges of 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 offense 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 the preventive detention of Pedro Castillo, from 18 to 36 months, for having attempted to unconstitutionally dissolve Parliament, intervene in the judicial system and to rule by decree. The former president then announced that he would appeal the court’s decision.
Two of the former ministers of the ex-president are also in pre-trial detention as part of the corruption case. Pedro Castillo, a leftist and leader of a teachers’ union, denies corruption charges and says he feels “wrongfully kidnapped“. The prosecution believes that he 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.