The former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo (2021-2022) will be tried for the failed coup he attempted on December 7, 2022, the Peruvian judiciary determined on Monday.
According to the criteria of
The decision was made by provisional Supreme Court Judge Juan Carlos Checkley, who rejected a request to dismiss (archive) this investigation presented by Castillo and the other defendants in this case, the Judiciary stated on the social network X.
In this way, it was determined that the former ruler will go to trial for the failed coup, which led to Congress removing him shortly after the attempt, along with his former prime ministers Aníbal Torres and Betssy Chávez.
In announcing his decision, Checkley said that the arguments presented by both the prosecution and the defense of the accused “must be contrasted at the trial stage and not at the prosecution control” of the case.
With this measure, the Judiciary resolved to “continue with the proceedings against Pedro Castillo, Aníbal Torres, Betssy Chávez and others for the crime of rebellion and another against the State.”
The decision on the request for dismissal, which was made in a virtual hearing of the accusation control stage, cannot be appealed.
Former ministers Willy Huerta and Roberto Sánchez, who is a current congressman, will also be tried in this case. as well as the officers of the National Police of Peru (PNP) Manuel Lozada, Jesús Venero and Eder Infanzón.
When filing his impeachment request last January, The Prosecutor’s Office requested that the former president be sentenced to 34 years in prison for the crimes of rebellion, abuse of authority and serious disturbance of public peace.
He also asked that Chavez, who was prime minister during the failed coup and is currently in pretrial detention, be sentenced to 25 years in prison, and that Torres, who had left that post but remained Castillo’s legal adviser, receive 15 years in prison.
Judge Checkley is currently conducting the evidence control phase, in which the evidence presented by the prosecution is evaluated, as well as the relevance of the witnesses who will be called to testify.
The process must still wait for the magistrate to conclude this stage and issue a writ of impeachment, in which he must formalize the start of an oral trial. which, in accordance with the high position held by Castillo, should be assumed by the Special Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court.
Castillo was removed from office by Congress shortly after he gave a televised address on December 7, 2022, in which he announced his intention to close Congress, intervene in the Judiciary, and call for a constituent assembly.
In response, he was dismissed for “permanent moral incapacity” and then arrested by agents of the Peruvian National Police (PNP). He has since remained in prison while being prosecuted for the crime of rebellion and also facing other cases of alleged corruption.
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