“The Public Ministry this afternoon directed the arrest of Pedro Castillo Terrones for the alleged crime of rebellion, regulated in article 346 of the Penal Code, for violating the constitutional order,” said the authority on the status of the former president of Peru,
The Prosecutor of the Nation of Peru confirmed this Wednesday that he arrested the former president Pedro Castillo for the alleged commission of the crime of rebellion and breaking the constitutional order after his announcement to dissolve Congress.
“The Public Ministry this afternoon directed the arrest of Pedro Castillo Terrones for the alleged crime of rebellion, regulated in article 346 of the Penal Code, for violating the constitutional order,” the Prosecutor’s Office reported in a statement.
According to article 346 of Peruvian legislation, The crime of rebellion is defined as “the one who rises up in arms to change the form of Government, depose the legally constituted Government or suppress or modify the constitutional regime” and states that “it will be punished with a custodial sentence of not less than ten nor over twenty years of age and expatriation”.
The institution explained that it directed the arrest of the ex-president in the Lima Prefecture and was supervised by the Prosecutor of the Nation (general), Patricia Benavides.
They were in charge of the arrest procedure, the supreme deputy prosecutor of the Specialized Area on Illicit Enrichment and Constitutional Complaints of the National Prosecutor’s Office, Marco Huamán Muñoz, and the superior prosecutor Marita Barreto Rivera, belonging to the special team against power corruption.
The Public ministry He added in his information that as part of the procedure, Castillo underwent a legal medical examination on his current state of health, by the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Public Ministry.
Shortly before, Benavides delivered a statement from the Board of Supreme Prosecutors, in which they expressed their rejection of the breach of the constitutional order and announced the adoption of the corresponding legal actions.
“We condemn the breach of the constitutional order. The Political Constitution of Peru consecrates the separation of powers and establishes that Peru is a democratic and sovereign republic (…) No authority can place itself above the Constitution and must comply with its constitutional mandates, “said Benavides.
Castillo dictated this Wednesday to temporarily dissolve Congress and establish a national emergency government, hours before Parliament debated a vacancy motion (removal) against him that could have removed him from the head of state.
After the measure, labeled as a coup d’état and not even supported by its government, he was dismissed by Congress, and arrested by the Police by order of the Public Ministry.
Since approximately 2:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. GMT), the former president has been detained in the Lima Prefecture together with his former prime minister from February until two weeks ago.