Peru’s supreme court on Thursday sentenced former leftist President Pedro Castillo to 11 years, five months and 15 days in prison for trying to dissolve Congress and rule by decree in December 2022.
Labeled as Peru’s first poor president, the former rural school teacher, who had never held elected office before winning the presidency, was impeached and jailed by Congress the same day following his attempted power grab.
During his 16 months in power, he repeatedly clashed with the opposition-dominated Congress.
The verdict in his case came a day after another leftist former president, Martin Vizcarra, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for accepting bribes while serving as regional governor.
Vizcarra joins two other former presidents already behind bars in a special prison for former leaders in Lima: Ollanta Humala (2011–2016) and Alejandro Toledo (2001–2006). Castillo, 56, was also jailed pending trial.
Castillo, a former trade unionist who came to power in 2021 on a promise to uplift Peru’s poor, took the surprise decision to dissolve Congress to avoid impeachment over alleged corruption. However, his stunt failed spectacularly, as members of his own government were against him.
He was arrested while traveling with his family to the Mexican Embassy to seek asylum. He was charged with rebellion, abuse of power and disturbing public order, but was acquitted of the latter two charges on Thursday.
Prosecutors had sought a 34-year prison sentence.
His eight-month trial took a dramatic turn earlier this month when his former prime minister, Betsy Chávez, also appeared in the dock, having been granted asylum by the Mexican Embassy.
Peru broke diplomatic relations with Mexico, calling it an “unfriendly act” and did not rule out attacking the Mexican embassy to arrest him.
Castillo’s arrest and impeachment triggered mass protests among his working-class rural base in 2022. The protests were harshly repressed, resulting in the deaths of at least 50 people.
His deeply unpopular successor, former Vice President Dina Bolourt, led the country for 22 months filled with a deep security crisis before being impeached in October.
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