Amidst protests, the exiled leader of Peru has been ordered detained for 18 months

LIMA—After his arrest last week, which caused a lot of trouble in the South American country, Pedro Castillo, the country’s outgoing president, was told on Thursday by Peru’s Supreme Court to stay in jail for another 18 months.

Castillo was removed from office and jailed after he tried to get rid of the legislature and said he would rule by decree. His critics say he did this to avoid an impeachment vote while there were multiple corruption investigations going on.

According to public prosecutor Alcides Diaz, the left-leaning former teacher is charged with rebellion and conspiracy and could spend up to 10 years in prison if proven guilty.

Castillo attempted to seek refuge at the Mexican consulate in Lima; therefore, prosecutors asked the Supreme Court judge to allow their request to hold him in detention on the grounds that he constituted a flight risk. The detention mandate is in effect until June 2024.

The health ministry and local authorities report that 15 people have died as a result of nationwide demonstrations against his removal from office. Even though there is an emergency, thousands of people demonstrate every day, including Thursday in Lima.

At least seven people were killed in clashes on Thursday in the southern city of Ayacucho between members of the military and Castillo’s followers, according to local health officials. Two more people were killed in clashes outside the airport, according to the country’s Ombudsman.

The police claim that at least half of the 340 injured people are members of their ranks, whereas the ombudsman puts the figure at 340.

Castillo’s fans, numbering in the hundreds and camping outside the capital’s prison where he is being kept, show no signs of giving up.

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In response to the court’s decision to keep Castillo in custody, protester Rolando Arana, 38, said in Lima, “I am totally opposed to the Peruvian legal system since everything is for sale.”

“A president has been taken hostage.” There isn’t any other way to put it. “Lucy Carranza, 41, made that statement earlier.”

On Thursday, under the watchful eye of police, 300 protesters marched close to the prison while yelling “Freedom for Castillo.”

After Castillo was arrested, the former vice president Dina Boluarte took over as president right away. On Wednesday, she declared a 30-day national state of emergency.

She urged Congress on Thursday to accept a constitutional change that would let her move the July 2026 election date to December 2023.

Indigenous people from the center and southeast Amazon regions of Peru have joined the pro-Castillo protests. One of the main things they want is new elections.

Due to the protests, four airports have been closed, and more than 100 roads are still blocked nationwide.

After train transportation to Peru’s most well-known attraction, the Inca fortress Machu Picchu, was halted, hundreds of visitors were left stranded there.

According to protest leaders, more protests will be held on Friday in support of the demands for Castillo’s release, Boluarte’s resignation, the dissolution of Congress, and fresh elections.

At the hearing for his virtual release, Castillo and his attorneys were not present.

Castillo, according to the judge, refused to accept the summons, and thus his case was given to a public defense attorney.

Castillo’s original seven-day detention period ended on Wednesday. The hearing was supposed to happen then, but it was put off for a day because the former leader’s lawyers said they hadn’t gotten all the paperwork they needed from the prosecution.

Castillo told the security forces to “stop killing” protesters and said that his arrest was unfair and made up for no reason.

Vilma Vasquez, his niece, claimed in public outside the prison where Castillo is being kept that the former president’s political adversaries had launched a smear campaign against him even before he assumed office last year.

Vasquez says that we were called terrorists as soon as he took office and even while he was running for office.

“They refused to let him rule because we were crooked and thieves.” We’ll remain here until he departs “jail.”

Castillo’s opponents attempted to portray him as a dangerous communist and supporter of the Shining Path guerrillas, who wreaked havoc in the 1980s and 1990s, before his victory. Castillo claims to have engaged in combat with Maoist insurgents.

He was only in office for 17 months in Peru, a country prone to political unrest and currently on its sixth president in six years.

His short time in office was marked by six investigations into him and his family, mostly for corruption, and a power struggle with the opposition-led Congress.