The president of Peru , Dina Boluarte , announced this Wednesday that she has proposed that the general elections in her country be held in December 2023, four months before the initial proposal she made in the midst of the serious political and social crisis that affects her country.
Dina Boluarte remarked that “legally the times would fit” for his initial proposal that the elections be held in April 2024, but that in a meeting he held on Tuesday night with the Council of State “readjustments” were made indicating that the elections could be in December of the previous year.
Hours earlier, a Peruvian judge on Wednesday evaluated the prosecutor’s request for 18 months of preventive detention for former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo , investigated for the alleged commission of the crime of rebellion as a result of the failed coup that led to his dismissal.
The Supreme Court of Preparatory Investigation is holding today, Wednesday the 14th at 9:30 a.m., the hearing on the prosecutor’s request for preventive detention for 18 months against former president PedroCastillo and AníbalTorres, investigated for the crimes of rebellion and others.
For now, Castillo will continue to be detained in Peru, the hearing on the ex-president’s prison has been postponed until Thursday. “At the request of the legal defense of the accused to adequately review the requirement of preventive detention and in accordance with it by the FiscaliaPeru, magistrate Juan Carlos Checkley suspends the hearing for tomorrow, Thursday, December 15 at 8:30 am.”
At the request of the legal defense of the defendants to adequately review the requirement of preventive detention and in accordance with it by the FiscaliaPeru, magistrate Juan Carlos Checkley suspends the hearing for tomorrow, Thursday, December 15 at 8:30 am.
This magistrate approved during the night of this Tuesday the formalization of the preparatory investigation against Castillo and his former prime minister and legal adviser Aníbal Torres for the alleged commission of the crime of rebellion and others.
Checkley specified that Castillo will be investigated as the alleged co-perpetrator of the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy, as well as the alleged perpetrator of the crimes of abuse of authority and serious disturbance of public peace.
Torres, in his capacity as adviser to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers at the time of the events, will be investigated as an alleged co-perpetrator in the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy.
After the judge’s decision, Supreme Prosecutor Uriel Teran , in charge of the Second Transitory Supreme Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Crimes committed by Public Officials, presented the request for 18 months of preventive detention against Castillo and Torres.
A source linked to the investigation told EFE that this request opens the possibility of extending Castillo’s preliminary detention , which should end in principle around noon this Wednesday.
For his part, the jurist Carlos Caro assured on Twitter that, having filed the prosecutor’s request for preventive detention, “the detention is maintained until the hearing is carried out and the Judge of the Preparatory Investigation decides.”
But it is not a problem-free solution. Congress has decided to lift the prerogative of “political impeachment”, similar to the “lifting of parliamentary immunity” that existed when a congressman committed flagrante delicto, a formula repealed in 2021.
Both Castillo and Torres asked their followers on Tuesday to meet from noon on the outskirts of the Diroes prison, in the Ate district of Lima, where Castillo is serving preliminary detention.
Local media reported that surveillance at the site has been reinforced by a large contingent of National Police agents, in anticipation of disturbances.
Unlike Castillo, Torres is free and went into hiding upon learning of the accusation against him presented by the Peruvian attorney general, Patricia Benavides .
The investigation has been described as “complex” by the Public Ministry and will last eight months.
This Tuesday, Supreme Judge César San Martín rejected the appeal that Castillo’s defense filed against his preliminary arrest and pointed out that, with what was raised by the Prosecutor’s Office, the former president can be prosecuted at least for attempted rebellion or conspiracy, charges for which he would face between 5 and 10 years in prison.
During that hearing, Castillo expressed, remotely from prison, that he has not committed “any crime of conspiracy or rebellion” and maintained that he is “unfairly and arbitrarily detained.”