Former president Pedro Castillo was arrested after illegally trying to dissolve Peru’s Congress. (AP pic)
LIMA: Peru’s Supreme Court is considering the prosecution’s request for up to 18 months of preventative detention for former president Pedro Castillo after he was charged with rebellion and conspiracy, the court said today ahead of a new hearing.
Castillo was ousted in an impeachment trial last week and arrested after illegally trying to dissolve the Andean nation’s Congress, the latest in a series of political crises the world’s second-largest copper producer has been facing in recent years.
Castillo’s original preliminary detention is set to end in the coming hours, and prosecutors are now looking to move him to preventative arrest.
The new Supreme Court hearing is scheduled to start at 09.30am local time (1430 GMT).
The latest move comes as Castillo exhorted supporters to join him at the police base where he is being held at around 1.40pm, when he was initially expected to be released from preliminary detention.
“I wait for you all at the DIROES facilities to join you in a hug,” the former president said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.
Castillo, who took office in July 2021 and was replaced last week by his vice-president, Dina Boluarte, has denied the prosecutors’ accusations.
