The Peruvian Supreme Court announced, yesterday, Thursday, that isolated President Pedro Castillo, who is arrested on charges of “rebellion” after trying in vain to dissolve Parliament, will remain in pre-trial detention for 18 months.
The court thus approved the Public Prosecution’s request to extend the detention of the former president because of the “risk of his escape,” especially since he tried to seek refuge in the Mexican embassy in Lima after Parliament dismissed him on the seventh of December.
Hours after the dismissal of the former president, the Supreme Court ordered his detention pending investigations for a period of 7 days.
The crisis erupted in Peru on December 7, when Castillo, 53, tried to dissolve parliament and assume legislative power himself through legislative decrees, in a move that deputies responded to by immediately voting to impeach him due to “moral inability.”
Parliament appointed Vice President Dina Polwart as president, while the police arrested the deposed president while he was on his way to the Mexican embassy in Lima.
Castillo’s dismissal sparked violent protests in the country, which, as of Thursday, left 10 dead and 340 injured, according to the authorities.
In an attempt to restore security, the government imposed a state of emergency on Thursday, banning the right to assembly and freedom of movement across the country for a period of 30 days.
However, the violent protests continued.
Peru’s new president, Dina Boloart, has appealed for calm as protests continue against her and the country’s parliament that toppled her predecessor.
In response to the demands for immediate elections, I proposed that they be held a year from now, 4 months before a previous proposal, which did not satisfy anyone.
“Peru cannot drown in blood,” Boulwart said, pointing to the possible date of general elections being set for December 2023.
“The only thing I can ask of you brothers and sisters is to stay calm. We already had that experience in the 80s and 90s, and I think we don’t want to go back to that painful history,” Boulwart added.
Boulwart, who was appointed by parliament a week ago to replace Castillo, recalled the horrific years between 1980 and 2000, when the Shining Path rebellion was led by car bombings and assassinations.
The organization was accused of being behind more than half of the killings and disappearances of 70,000 people committed by several rebel groups and caused by the government’s counter-insurgency measures.
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