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During a hearing during which Pedro Castillo affirmed that he “would never give up”, the Peruvian justice rejected the request for the release of the former president. At least seven people have died in protests marred by violence that have rocked the country since last weekend.
Peruvian justice rejected on Tuesday December 13 the request for the release of deposed President Pedro Castillo, who told the hearing that he would “never” give up and called on the security forces to “lay down their arms” in the face of the growing protests that have claimed seven lives since Sunday.
The Court “declares unfounded the appeal brought by the defense” of the dismissed president, arrested on December 7, indicated judge César San Martin while reading his decision during a televised hearing.
She believes in particular that the failure of Castillo’s coup attempt does not excuse his crime, stressing that by wanting to “establish an exceptional government, he wanted to alter the constitutional order”.
This decision opens the door to the extension of his detention. The Supreme Court had ordered his remand in custody for seven days on December 7, the day of his arrest, a period which expires Wednesday at 1 p.m. The prosecution is expected to request an extension in the coming hours.
During the hearing, the former president was combative, taking the opportunity to say: “I will never give up and abandon this cause that brought me here. I urge the armed forces and the police nation to lay down their arms and stop killing this people who thirst for justice”. “I am detained unjustly and arbitrarily, I am neither a thief, nor a rapist, nor a corrupt or a thug”, he also defended himself.
Roads blocked in half the country
Demonstrations demanding the release of Mr. Castillo, the resignation of new president Dina Boluarte – ex-vice-president of Mr. Castillo and from the same radical left party as him – and the dissolution of Parliament, continued on Tuesday with many roads blocked in 13 of the 24 regions, according to the police.
“The demonstrations have intensified since December 7. At first it was a small mobilization (…) but in the following days it became larger (…) and more violent”, estimated the mediator of the Republic Eliana Revollar to AFP, stressing that Tuesday “confirmed this increase”.
“It’s a very serious social convulsion, we fear that it will lead to an uprising because there are people who are calling for an insurrection, who are asking to take up arms,” she said. She confirmed the death toll at 7, adding that more than 200 people had been injured.
President Boluarte called once again for “calm and peace”, announcing that the authorities were going to “assess” in the evening the relevance of declaring a state of emergency throughout the territory. Monday, the new government had declared a state of emergency for 60 days in seven provinces of the region of Abancay (South) and dismissed all the prefects appointed by the government of Mr. Castillo.
Le Machu Picchu inaccessible
The southern part of the country, with the tourist region of Cuzco and the second largest city Arequipa, and the northern part are the areas most affected by the protests. The train linking Cuzco and the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, Peru’s tourist gem, was suspended Tuesday and Wednesday due to the situation, the operator said.
“We demand the dissolution of Congress and the immediate resignation of Mrs. Dina Boluarte,” Hugo Maquera, a local official who participated in the blocking of the Puno international bridge on the border with Bolivia, told AFP, stressing that Peru was not limited to Lima.
The center of the country with Lima is preserved even if there are daily demonstrations in the capital. On Monday night, police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters trying to march into parliament.
Under pressure, Ms. Boluarte announced on Sunday evening that she wanted to advance the general elections from 2026 to 2024, without managing to ease tensions.
With AFP