Peru’s ousted ‘president of the poor’ gets 11-year sentence for rebellion | Peru
Peru’s supreme court on Thursday sentenced former leftist president Pedro Castillo to 11 years, 5 months and 15 days in prison for trying to dissolve Congress and rule by decree in December 2022.
The former rural schoolteacher, who has been called Peru’s first impoverished president and had never held elected office before winning the presidency, was impeached by Congress and jailed the same day following an attempt to seize power.
During his 16 months in power, he clashed repeatedly with the opposition-dominated Congress.
The verdict in his case came a day after another leftist former president, Martín Vizcarra, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for taking bribes while serving as regional governor.
Vizcarra joins two other former presidents already behind bars at a special prison for former leaders in Lima: Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) and Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006). Castillo, 56, was also incarcerated at the facility pending his trial.
Castillo, a former unionist who came to power in 2021 on the promise of lifting up Peru’s poor, made the shocking decision to dissolve Congress to avoid impeachment over corruption allegations. However, his demonstration ended in spectacular failure as members of his government turned against him.
He was arrested while he and his family were on their way to the Mexican embassy to seek asylum. He was charged with rioting, abuse of power and disturbing public order but was acquitted of the last two charges on Thursday.
Prosecutors had requested a 34-year prison sentence.
His eight-month trial took a dramatic turn earlier this month when former prime minister Betssy Chavez was also granted asylum by the Mexican embassy.
Peru cut off diplomatic relations with Mexico over what it described as a “hostile act” and did not rule out attacking the Mexican embassy to arrest him.
Castillo’s arrest and dismissal led to mass protests among the rural working class in 2022. The protests were harshly suppressed and resulted in the deaths of at least 50 people.
His unpopular successor, former vice president Dina Boluarte, led the country for 22 turbulent months marked by a deep security crisis before being impeached in October.
