Judge to rule on Castillo’s detention amid Peru protests

LIMA: A judge in Peru was deciding Thursday whether ousted President Pedro Castillo will remain in custody while authorities build their rebellion case against him with a positive ruling expected to ignite further protests.

The ruling, which would extend his detention for up to 18 months, would come a day after the South American country’s government declared a police state as it struggles to calm nationwide violent protests stemming from Castillo’s ouster last week.

The virtual hearing took place even though Castillo refused to be served with a notification. In his absence, he was represented by a public defender because he and his legal team would not participate arguing the hearing lacked “minimum guarantees.”

Protesters are demanding Castillo’s freedom, the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the immediate scheduling of general elections to pick a new president and replace all members of Congress. In a renewed effort to placate demonstrators, Boluarte on Wednesday said general elections could potentially be scheduled for December 2023, four months earlier than the timing she had proposed Congress Monday.

Castillo was taken into custody after he was ousted by lawmakers when he sought to dissolve Congress ahead of an impeachment vote. Peru’s Supreme Prosecutor Alcides Chinchay said in court that Castillo faces at least 10 years in prison for the rebellion charge.

At least eight people have died since the demonstrations began Dec. 7, shortly after Castillo’s ouster. All deaths happened in rural, impoverished communities outside Lima, strongholds for Castillo, a political neophyte and former schoolteacher from a poor Andean mountain district.

Despite the declaration allowing the armed forces to help maintain public order, in Andahuaylas, where at least four people have died since the demonstrations began, no soldiers were on the streets Thursday.

Some grocery store owners were cleaning the roads littered with rocks and burned tires, but they planned to close the stores because of the expected protests led by people from nearby rural communities.

Judge Cesar San Martin Castro’s decision expected Thursday would come after Congress stripped Castillo of the privilege that keeps presidents from facing criminal charges.

Castillo was ousted by lawmakers last week after he sought to dissolve Congress ahead of their third attempt to impeach him. His vehicle was intercepted as he traveled through Lima’s streets with his security detail.

Chinchay insisted Castillo is a flight risk as evidenced by his attempt to reach the Mexican embassy to seek asylum after he left the presidential palace. He quoted remarks from Mexico’s president and foreign affairs minister indicating Mexico was opened to granting asylum.

“We do not believe that he wanted to go to the Mexican embassy to have tea,” Chinchay said. “We believe that from maximum experience, due to the context, there are ... strong indications that in heading to the Mexican embassy it was to request asylum.”

Castillo’s public defender, Italo Díaz, rejected that the former president is a flight risk. He told the judge Castillo’s children and wife depend on him and he could return to his teaching job if freed.

The state of emergency declaration suspends the rights of assembly and freedom of movement and empowers the police, supported by the military, to search people’s homes without permission or judicial order.

Defense Minister Luis Otarola Peñaranda said the declaration was agreed to by the council of ministers.

On Wednesday, Boluarte pleaded for calm as demonstrations continued against her and Congress.

“Peru cannot overflow with blood,” she said.

In a handwritten letter shared Wednesday with The Associated Press by his associate Mauro Gonzales, Castillo asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intercede for his “rights and the rights of my Peruvian brothers who cry out for justice.” The commission investigates allegations of human rights violations and litigates them in some cases.

In the last week, protesters have burned police stations, taken over an airstrip used by the armed forces and invaded the runway of the international airport in Arequipa, a gateway to some of Peru’s tourist attractions. The passenger train that carries visitors to Machu Picchu suspended service, and roadblocks on the Pan-American Highway have stranded trailer trucks for days, spoiling food bound for the capital.

By Wednesday, members of the armed forces had already been deployed to Arequipa and other areas outside Lima, but protests continued into Thursday.