Peru sentences former President Pedro Castillo just a day after another presidential conviction

By Jimena De La Quintana, Alessandra Freitas, CNN

Lima, Peru (CNN) — In an extraordinary two-day series of judgments, a Peruvian Supreme Court chamber sentenced former President Pedro Castillo to more than 11 years in prison for attempting to dissolve Congress, only a day after another ex-president, Martín Vizcarra, was convicted and given 14 years for bribery.

During a special hearing of the Supreme Court held at Lima’s Barbadillo Prison on Thursday, Castillo was found guilty by a two-to-one vote of attempting to dissolve Congress and assume extraordinary powers in 2022.

The ruling comes just one day after Vizcarra was convicted – marking unprecedented back-to-back convictions within a 48-hour span at the highest level of Peruvian politics.

With the convictions of Castillo and Vizcarra, Peru adds two more former heads of state to a long list of presidents investigated or sentenced since the early 2000s. The country has cycled through seven presidents in seven years, and nearly all recent ex-presidents have faced corruption or abuse-of-power charges.

The list includes Alberto Fujimori, who was imprisoned for 25 years; Alejandro Toledo for 33 years, Ollanta Humala for 15 years; and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski who was placed under house arrest for three years.

Protests after national address

Castillo has been held in pre-trial detention since December 7, 2022, after he was arrested for announcing on Peruvian national TV that he would dissolve Congress, govern by decree, reorganize the justice system, and convene a Constituent Assembly. His announcement triggered protests that left about 50 people dead across the country.

Prosecutors had initially accused him of rebellion against the state and requested a sentence of 34 years, but the Supreme Court ruled that specific crime was not carried out. He was instead convicted of conspiracy, which carries a lesser penalty.

According to the ruling, Castillo “appropriated the exercise of power” and attempted to dissolve Congress without meeting constitutional requirements. The former leader maintained his innocence throughout the trial, arguing that his televised remarks were merely a “political speech” expressing a “popular outcry,” not an official address to the nation.

The court said that immediately after giving the address, Castillo tried to reach the Mexican Embassy in Lima “to secure impunity,” which he also denies. He claims he headed to the embassy to drop off his family and never requested asylum.

“Do you think someone could escape with their own official escort, with the police?” he told the court in last week’s hearing.

The three years he has already spent in pre-trial detention at Barbadillo Prison will be credited toward his sentence.

The chamber also issued sentences against several of Castillo’s former officials, including Betssy Chávez, former president of the Council of Ministers; Willy Huerta, former interior minister – though his prison term was suspended; and Aníbal Torres, former chief of cabinet advisers.

Castillo insisted his ministers were unaware of the contents of his 2022 address, saying he carried the sole responsibility himself.

Two convictions in two days

On Wednesday, just a day before Castillo’s sentencing, a court in Lima sentenced former President Vizcarra to 14 years in prison for bribery. Prosecutors accused Vizcarra of accepting money from private contractors in exchange for public works contracts during his time as governor of Moquegua between 2011 and 2014.

Vizcarra, who governed Peru from 2018 to 2020, denied any wrongdoing. As he left his final hearing days ago, he told reporters that “private businessmen made statements they could not corroborate during the trial” and that “there is no justification for a conviction.”

Vizcarra was also banned from holding public office for nine years.

Before his presidential term was cut short in 2020, Vizcarra was impeached over this same case. He may now return to Barbadillo Prison, where he was previously held in preventive detention in August. If so, he would join Castillo, Toledo and Humala – and follow the path of Fujimori, who died last year.

His political fate has had ripple effects – though elected to Congress in 2021, he was barred from taking office due to a 10-year disqualification following the “Vacunagate” scandal, in which it was revealed that several top officials, including Vizcarra, received early, irregular COVID-19 vaccinations. His replacement in Congress, José Jerí, became president of Peru after Dina Boluarte’s removal last month.

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