The former president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, He denied this Tuesday “absolutely and categorically” that he is the author and is part of a criminal organization formed during his government, as accused by the Prosecutor’s Office when arguing the request for 36 months of preventive detention against him. Castillo remarked, in this sense, that he already complies with an order that has him “kidnapped” unjustly.
“I strongly and categorically deny that I am an author and that I am part of a criminal network, the only crime I have committed is serving my country as President of the Republic“, he pointed Castillo in a virtual hearing convened by Supreme Judge Juan Carlos Checkley. The ex-governor, who has been serving another 18-month preventive detention order since December for having attempted a self-coup, added that “a castle of alleged crimes has been set up” against him with the participation of “bought collaborators”.
“I have not committed any crime, Mr. Judge, Peru knows, the people know, that today those who have made the constitutional accusation would also in any case be part of this alleged criminal organization, because they mostly passed through the offices of the office presidential election,” said Castillo, who said that he is deprived of his liberty “assuming a conspiracy situation exists, media pressure” and asked “that they prove” the accusations against him.
The ex-president rejected that the prosecutor’s request is based on a possible flight risk when, according to what he said, he is “in a high-security prison” and that he has no family roots, since his wife and children are asylum seekers in Mexico. Castillowho appeared at the hearing accompanied by his lawyer, Eduardo Pachas, He has been in preventive detention for 18 months since last December 16when that measure was issued while he is being investigated for the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy for having attempted to carry out a self-coup on December 7.
The prosecutor’s accusation
During the hearing on Tuesday, prosecutor Galinka Meza pointed out that the former president is considered the alleged perpetrator of the crime against public peace in the form of criminal organization, influence peddling and as an accomplice to the crime against public administration, in the form of collusion. Meza added that this was “aggravated by his leadership status” and that the alleged criminal organization began to take shape during the second round of elections, in June 2021.
A second stage took place “before he assumed the presidency” and “seeked to take over the State institutions in order to direct public procurement procedures,” the prosecutor said. Judge Checkley resumed hearing the prosecutor’s request after suspending it last Friday after receiving the defense’s request for more time to study the file, which, according to the magistrate, includes six thousand pages in 13 volumes.