Former leftist Peruvian President Pedro Castillo (2021-2022) was sentenced on Thursday to 11 years, 5 months, and 15 days in prison for conspiracy to rebel. The sentence is related to the failed coup attempt he staged on December 7, 2022.
On the day of the events, Castillo gave a national address in which he ordered the temporary dissolution of Congress (Parliament), the intervention of the judiciary, and to rule by decree. This came after a new and imminent motion in the legislature, dominated by the opposition, to remove him from office. The motion was triggered by the emergence of evidence of alleged corruption that implicated Castillo directly.
However, his pronouncement had no effect, and a few minutes later he was arrested as he was leaving the Government Palace of Lima, apparently heading to the Mexican Embassy, where his family did arrive and received asylum, while Castillo was hours later removed from office by Congress and sent to prison, where he remains to this day.
The court issued this sentence just days before the three years of pretrial detention imposed on Castillo at the time of his arrest were set to expire, meaning he would have had to be released if the verdict had not been announced.
The Special Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court that tried Castillo considered that the former head of state did not consummate the crime of rebellion because his coup intentions were not realized, for which reason the Public Prosecutor's Office changed its penalty request during the trial from 34 years in prison to the sentence finally handed down by the court.
Meanwhile, the former Prime Minister and head of advisors to Castillo at the time of the events, Aníbal Torres, received a six-year and eight-month prison sentence, which the court suspended for humanitarian reasons due to his advanced age (82 years).
The same sentence of 11 years, 5 months, and 15 days in prison was also given to former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who is currently asylumed at the Mexican Embassy residence in Lima, and for whom the court ordered a new search and capture; and to former Interior Minister Willy Huerta.
For their part, former police chiefs Manuel Lozada and Justo Venero were acquitted of the charges.
The chamber acquitted Castillo of the crimes of abuse of authority and serious disturbance of public order, but imposed a two-year ban on holding public office, in addition to the payment of 12 million soles (3.5 million dollars) in compensation, jointly with his co-defendants.
However, the sentence against Huerta will be suspended until the second instance if he appeals and follows a series of behavioral norms.
