Peruvian justice sentences former president Castillo to 36 months in custody

The Peruvian judiciary on Thursday ordered 36 months of preventive detention against former President Pedro Castillo (2021-2022) in the framework of an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for alleged acts of corruption committed during his administration.

Supreme Judge Juan Carlos Checkley determined the measure after evaluating the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating the former president for the alleged crimes of criminal organization, collusion, and aggravated influence peddling.

According to the Judicial Power in its Twitter account, the judge imposed preventive detention on Castillo “for being the alleged leader of a criminal organization for crimes committed in Petroperu and the Ministries of Transport, and Housing, Construction and Sanitation”.

When reading the resolution, Checkley assured that the measure is necessary because it is not a common trial “but rather a highly dangerous one”, considering that there is a danger of flight and that Castillo has incurred in obstructing Justice.

The judge emphasized that the former president does not have roots in the country because he does not have a current address and that the Barbadillo prison in Lima, where he is preliminarily detained for 18 months for “rebellion”, cannot be considered a domicile.

Furthermore, it should be remembered that Castillo’s family, including his wife Lilia Paredes, has been in asylum in Mexico since last December.

According to the magistrate, the preventive imprisonment is calculated from March 9, 2023, to March 8, 2026, and the probable sentence for the crimes he is accused of could amount to 32 years in prison.

In the Petroperu case, Castillo would have been pressured during his administration to appoint an official as general manager of the state-owned company even though he did not have the technical profile.

Furthermore, he would have influenced granting a Petroperú bid in favor of a company for selling biodiesel.

In addition, Castillo allegedly appointed the fugitive former minister Juan Silva as head of Transportation and Communications to fill that ministry with officials who would help “direct” the infrastructure projects to be executed by that institution.

In this sense, Checkley ordered 36 months of preventive detention against Silva, “investigated for the alleged crimes of a criminal organization and others”, and when he was found as “not found,” he ordered his location and capture at national and international level.

Against Geiner Alvarado, former Minister of Housing, Construction, and Sanitation, the magistrate imposed a measure of appearance with restrictions, a rule of conduct, and the payment of a bond of US$9,200 within 30 days after the resolution was issued.

In the virtual hearing held on March 7, Pedro Castillo denied “categorically and categorically” having been the author and being part of a criminal organization and that his “only crime” was to have served his country as president of the Republic.

He also denied that there is a possible escape danger because he is being held in a “high security” prison, which he considered “my house arrest”.

Pedro Castillo is being held in the Barbadillo prison, east of Lima, while the Prosecutor’s Office is investigating him for alleged “rebellion” after unconstitutionally attempting to dissolve the Congress on December 7 last year.

With information from Xinhua