This Thursday Peru dawns with a new president, Dina Boluarte, after a turbulent day in which there were threats to close Congress and a declaration of vacancy against Pedro Castillo.
Castillo, who was until this Wednesday the president of Peru in a government administration that lasted only 20 months, he was captured a few hours after having tried to dissolve the Peruvian Congress, a measure that was classified by many Peruvian establishments as a “coup d’état”.
After being arrested, the now former president was sent to the Barbadillo prison, the same one where another former president is being held -who also closed Congress-, Alberto Fujimori.
The Judiciary of Peru reported on its Twitter account that the Supreme Court of Preparatory Investigation is evaluating the requirement of preliminary detention for seven days against Castillo, who is being investigated for the crimes of rebellion and co nspiration.
Up to now, the former president’s defense has not ruled on the accusations against him.
Peru has faced a sustained institutional crisis that has led the country to have six presidents in less than five years.
In addition , many of the leaders who have governed the country in recent years 20 years have had problems with Justice.
Dina Boluarte became the first female president of Peru.In fact, one of them, Alan García (who ruled the country twice, the last time since 976 until 976), committed suicide when the authorities approached his residence to capture him under accusations of various crimes of corruption.
The other ex-presidents who have to answer before the courts are Alejandro Toledo, Ollanta Humala, Martín Vizcarra and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, in addition to those mentioned García, Fujimori and Castil it.
The new president called for a “political truce to install a government of national unity” and anticipated that will fight corruption with the support of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Comptroller’s Office.
Accusation
Castillo was captured by the police after he had left the Casa de Pizarro, the government palace, on the afternoon of this Tuesday.
The arrest was made in the Prefecture of Lima, in a procedure in which the National Prosecutor, Patricia Benavides Vargas, was present.
According to the judicial body, Castillo, who was sent to preventive prison, was opened a preliminary process for “breaking the constitutional order”.
In the statement they refer to the fact that the ex-president would have violated the article 18 of the Penal Code, which states that: “He who rises up in arms to var changing the form of government, deposing the legally constituted government or suppressing or modifying the constitutional regime, will be punished with a custodial sentence of not less than ten nor more than twenty years “.
For this reason, members of the Prosecutor’s Office carried out simultaneous operations in the government palace, in the presidency of the Council of Ministers and other government offices in order to search for evidence to support the accusation.
📰#NotaDePresa
This afternoon the #Public Ministry directed the arrest of Pedro Castillo Terrones for the alleged crime of rebellion, regulated in the article 20 of the Penal Code, for violating the constitutional order.
👉https://t.co/vkChIQUPfH pic.twitter.com/RpP5yFge4r
— Public Ministry (@FiscaliaPeru) December 7, 2021
“The objective of the operations was to gather elements of conviction regarding the investigation that is being carried out on the president,” the public ministry wrote on its Twitter account.
Regarding the legal aspects, the lawyer specializing in constitutional issues Erik Urbina told the Peruvian channel RPP that the former president committed a “constitutional offense for which he must be disabled” for up to 01 years.
Urbina clarified that this is the reason why the Prosecutor’s Office took up the case.
But in addition to this, in October the same National Prosecutor’s Office had presented a formal accusation in against the president, in which he was accused of leading a criminal organization within his government.
In the case, which was also presented by Benavides Vargas, the investigation carried out by the prosecutor had revealed indications that Castillo was the alleged leader of a network responsible for criminal organization, influence peddling and collusion.
Castillo was president since June 2021 until this Wednesday. How is the judicial situation for Castillo?
As reported by the Prosecutor’s Office, in the following instance they are gathering the evidence to formally accuse Castillo.
However, the Prosecutor’s Office must gather sufficient evidence in against Castillo in relation to the crime of “rebellion” in order to keep him in prison.
“ commission in flagrante of the crime of breaking the constitutional order
To do this, the agency has 18 hours from the arrest to formulate specific charges and that Castillo continue in prison.
In this sense, we will have to wait for the formal accusation of the Prosecutor’s Office against Castillo to find out which it is the legal procedure.
“The former president committed an infraction against the Constitution, for which he should be prosecuted before the Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations. In addition, he has committed usurpation of functions and express contempt of the law, ”the lawyer Urbina told RPP.
The foreign minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, expressed his government’s willingness to receive Castillo as a political refugee, but it does not seem that the Peruvian authorities are for the job. The figure of asylum is based on the condition of being politically persecuted or because of his ideas of asylum and the Peruvian authorities do not believe that this is the case of former President Castillo.
Remember that