PERU · COURTS
Peru’s Supreme Court may cancel the prison sentence of former president Pedro Castillo and order a new trial, according to an unconfirmed Peruvian press report dated Sunday 8 November 2026. The court has not ruled: on Thursday 22 October it agreed to hear appeals against his conviction for the failed coup attempt of 2022, and it asked prosecutors a pointed question about the charge.
Key Facts
- Status No ruling yet: the Supreme Court’s appeals panel for criminal cases is hearing Castillo’s appeals.
- Sentence 11 years, 5 months, 15 days for conspiracy to rebel (plotting an uprising) in the 2022 coup attempt.
- The question Judges asked prosecutors when, and why, the conspiracy charge stopped being part of the pre-trial investigation.
- Not confirmed An unconfirmed report says the chamber is expected to annul the conviction; the court has announced no decision.
- Power Index Peru ranks 5th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 53.9 points (November 2026 edition).
Annulling a conviction is not an acquittal: it sends the case back to be tried again. Peru’s top court has not said what it will do.
What the Court Has Done
On Thursday 22 October 2026 the Permanent Criminal Chamber of Peru’s Supreme Court, its appeals panel for criminal cases, led by Justice Víctor Prado Saldarriaga, declared the appeals against the conviction “well granted”. That means the appeals are formally valid and a hearing on their substance will follow.
Castillo, former prime minister Betssy Chávez, former minister Aníbal Torres and former interior minister Willy Huerta all appealed their sentences. Prosecutors also appealed, asking the court to overturn the acquittal of police general Manuel Lozada and to sentence him to 11 years, 5 months and 15 days.
Castillo’s lawyers ask the chamber, above all, to reverse the conviction and acquit him. As a fallback they ask for the trial itself to be declared void, citing flaws in the court’s reasoning and in due process.
Once the appeals are admitted, the parties may offer new evidence, and the judges then set a hearing. A date for that hearing has not been made public.
The Question About the Charge
The same October resolution orders a prosecutors’ unit, the Second Transitory Supreme Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes by Public Officials, to deliver a documented report on when, and on what grounds, the offence of conspiracy to rebel stopped being part of the pre-trial investigation. It also asks the Supreme Court’s pre-trial investigating judge whether it issued any ruling on that offence.
The question matters because Castillo was convicted of conspiracy to rebel, not of rebellion itself. The trial court had moved away from the prosecutors’ charge of rebellion and found him guilty of the lesser offence of conspiracy.
What Is Reported but Not Confirmed
On Sunday 8 November 2026 a Peruvian press report, citing unnamed judicial sources, said the chamber is expected to annul the verdict; the report is unconfirmed. The reasoning attributed to those sources is that convicting him of conspiracy may have violated his right to a defence, if prosecutors had already set that offence aside.
The Rio Times could not confirm this with the court, and the chamber has announced no decision. The sources quoted in that report expect, if the trial is voided, a new trial that would weigh rebellion and conspiracy together; the October resolution itself does not say so.
What It Means for You
For investors and observers in the United States, the case tests whether Peru’s courts can deliver a final verdict on an attempt to shut down Congress by decree. A voided trial would restart a case over the coup attempt of 7 December 2022, and would keep it in the courts for longer.
For earlier coverage, see our reports on the separate bribery case against Castillo, on a bill in Congress to grant him amnesty and on the United Nations panel’s view of his detention. Our Peru coverage hub tracks the wider political picture.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether the chamber will annul the trial, uphold the sentence or change the charge. Nor is it known when the hearing will take place or what the prosecutors’ report will say.
Castillo would stay in custody either way for now: he is also held in pretrial detention in a separate corruption case, which a Supreme Court investigating judge has declined to lift. Whether that case reaches trial is a separate open question.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Peru’s Supreme Court annulled Pedro Castillo’s conviction?
No. A press report says it may, but the chamber has announced no ruling; on 22 October 2026 it only accepted the appeals for a hearing.
What was Pedro Castillo convicted of?
He was convicted of conspiracy to rebel over the coup attempt of 7 December 2022 and sentenced to 11 years, 5 months and 15 days in prison. That conviction is now under appeal in the Supreme Court.
What happens if the conviction is annulled?
The case would go back to a trial court for a new trial; annulment is not an acquittal. Castillo would remain in pretrial detention in a separate corruption case.
Sources: Peru’s Judiciary (Poder Judicial), Supreme Court Permanent Criminal Chamber, resolution of 22 October 2026 admitting the appeals against the conviction, as described in Peruvian court coverage; a Peruvian press account of 8 November 2026 on the expected ruling (unconfirmed, citing unnamed judicial sources).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error