Pedro Castillo, ousted president of Peru after being arrested this Wednesday, has been transferred to the Barbadillo prison, in the district of Lima. Another former president is being held there, Alberto Fuijimoriwho is serving his 25-year prison sentence.
Castillo has been at the headquarters of the Prefecture in Lima until now. His transfer to prison took place after the Prosecutor’s Office opened proceedings for rebellion and conspiracy after the measures of the already ex-president, who announced that he was dissolving Congress, decreed an emergency government and called new legislative elections.
Cornered between the harassment of the parliamentary right and the Peruvian oligarchy and abandoned by ministers and fellow party members, Castillo decreed the closure of a Congress that was scheduled to debate a political trial against him. The Constitutional Court described the maneuver as “coup” and Castillo was removed and arrested. His number two in the Government, Dina Boluarte, she has been sworn in as president and will be the first woman to govern in Peru.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor’s Office has carried out several simultaneous operations, in the Government Palace, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and various ministries, in search of evidence against the former president. The objective is to “gather elements of conviction regarding the investigation” for the alleged commission of the crime of rebellion, the Public Ministry has reported on Twitter.
The National Prosecutor has traveled to the presidential headquarters, Patricia Benavidesand the senior prosecutor Marita Barreto, who coordinates the special team of prosecutors against power corruption, accompanied by several police officers. As specified by the Public Ministry, the Supreme Deputy Prosecutor Marco Huaman He is the one who directs the procedure in the Government Palace, “where documents and some computer equipment are being sealed, as part of the investigation.”
Despite Castillo’s attempts to stop the plenary session of Congress on his dismissal, the vote was approved by 101 of the 130 deputies that make up the Peruvian chamber. After being dismissed, Castillo was arrested in an operation supervised by the attorney general, who hours before had already condemned the decision of the now former head of state, which he described as “a breach of the constitutional order.”
With the opening of the new preliminary investigation, There are already seven proceedings opened by the Attorney General’s Office against Castillowho among other crimes is accused of allegedly leading an alleged criminal organization during his tenure to obtain illicit money from fraudulent public works tenders.
