Peru: Eighteen months of pretrial detention requested for ex-president

“A request for 18 months of pretrial detention has been officially filed,” a source from the government told AFP. The request ends a seven-day pre-trial detention of ousted Peruvian President Pedro Castillo that the Supreme Court ruled would prevent his release on Wednesday. The justice now has 48 hours to schedule a hearing and decide whether to accept the prosecution’s request. This occurs hours after the judge The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal for the release of Cesar San Martin of former President Castillo. The court specifically held that the failure of Castillo’s coup attempt did not excuse his guilt, asserting that “by seeking to establish an exceptional government, he sought to change the constitutional order.”

The former president had called on his supporters to welcome him when he left the jail at 1pm local time (6pm GMT) on Wednesday, completing 7 days of detention during the trial. His supporters widely publicized the meeting on social media. The former president noted during the trial: “I’ll Never Give Up”.

On December 7, the 53-year-old left-wing president ordered the dissolution of parliament, but the military did not follow through and MPs voted by a large majority shortly after he was dismissed for “moral incapacity”. Pedro Castillo was arrested hours later and placed in pre-trial detention. Its Vice President was Tina Poluiarte Inaugurated as president and facing growing mobilization. events 7 people have been killed since Sunday.