LIMA, Peru — A judge ordered ousted Peruvian President Pedro Castillo to remain in custody on Tuesday, denying his appeal as authorities build a rebellion case against him.
Supreme Court Judge Cesar San Martin Castro’s decision could further inflame violent protests across the country, where people have been demanding Castillo’s freedom, the resignation of his successor and the immediate scheduling of general elections to pick a new president and replace all members of Congress.
Castillo’s nationally televised announcement Dec. 7 that he had dissolved the Congress by presidential decree was “not a mere act of speech, but the concrete expression of a will to alter the constitutional system and the configuration of public powers,” the judge said.
Prosecutors plan to seek Castillo’s continued detention for up to three years.
Castillo claimed during his hearing earlier Tuesday that he is being “unjustly and arbitrarily detained” and thanked his supporters for their “effort and fight” since he was taken into custody.
The judge said evidence suggests Castillo was intercepted as he tried to reach the Mexican embassy to seek asylum. He was taken into custody shortly after he was ousted by lawmakers when he sought to dissolve Congress ahead of an impeachment vote.
“I will never renounce or abandon this popular cause that has brought me here,” Castillo said. Then, in apparent reference to the violent protests over his ouster, he urged the national police and armed forces to “lay down their arms and stop killing this people thirsty for justice.”
The protests have been particularly violent outside Peru’s capital, Lima. The Ombudsman’s Office of Peru on Tuesday decreased to six the death toll from the demonstrations that began Dec. 7. The office in a statement said it eliminated one person from the list after the national records’ agency determined the individual “does not exist.”
Attorney Ronaldo Atencio, speaking for Castillo’s legal team, argued that he didn’t raise weapons or organize people capable of overturning the existing government, as Peruvian law requires for someone to be charged with rebellion. He also said Castillo doesn’t present a flight risk, and never sought asylum from Mexico, as confirmed by the Mexican ambassador.
