Peru: Castillo's Preventive Arrest May Be Extended To 36 Months

On Tuesday, Peru Supreme Prosecutor Uriel Teran requested to extend to 36 months the preventive detention against former president Pedro Castillo, whom he accused of a criminal organization and influence trafficking.

This request, which a hearing will analyze on Friday, also involves former ministers Juan Silva (Transport and Communications) and Geiner Alvarado (Housing), who are also suspects of a criminal organization.

On Dec. 7, 2022, Peruvian security forces imprisoned Castillo after he attempted to dissolve the opposition-led Congress, which previously held several politically motivated actions against him. On Dec. 16, 2022, Castillo was sentenced to 18 months of pre-trial detention for rebellion and conspiracy.

On Feb. 17, Congress approved the final report of a constitutional complaint that recommended that the Prosecutor’s Office accuse Castillo, Silva, and Alvarado of organizing a criminal network to favor the Puente Tarata III consortium in obtaining public bidding contracts.

“These accusations are absurd," Castillo’s lawyer Eduardo Pachas stated, explaining that the Congress based that complaint exclusively on the testimonies of the people that worked with the former ministers. Despite this, the Prosecutor’s Office agreed to open the investigations into the alleged crimes last week.

In addition, it rejected a habeas corpus that the National Federation of Lawyers filed in favor of Castillo to declare the nullity of the preventive detention against the former president.

The political persecution against Castillo has sparked mass protests in Peru, where at least 60 people died, and 1,300 others have been injured due to police repression.