Peru: Former president Pedro Castillo sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for the crime of rebellion

Peruvian justice on Thursday sentenced the left-wing former president Pedro Castillo to 11 years, 5 months and 15 days in prison for the crime of rebellion, almost three years after he tried to dissolve Congress and rule by decree in December 2022. This information was confirmed by the AFP.

Castillo, 56, was acquitted of charges of abuse of power and disturbing public order. The prosecution had requested 34 years in prison for the set of crimes charged, but the Supreme Court of Peru ruled that only a sentence for conspiracy to rebellion was appropriate.

In its ruling, the court said it decided to "convict Jose Pedro Castillo Terrones as co-perpetrator of the crime against the powers of the State and the constitutional order in the modality of conspiracy for rebellion (...) and to impose 11 years, 5 months and 15 days of effective imprisonment," detailed the AFP.

Castillo was arrested "in flagrante delicto"

The ruling also emphasized that Castillo was arrested "in flagrante delicto" after announcing on television the dissolution of Parliament and the establishment of a "Government of exception", a move that generated the immediate rejection of Congress, the Judiciary and the Armed Forces.

According to the images released by the Judicial Power itself, the former president listened to the decision with apparent calm, accompanied by his lawyer.

Castillo, a rural teacher and unionist who surprised the country by winning the 2021 elections without ties to the traditional elites, now faces the prospect of remaining in prison until May 21, 2034, a date calculated considering that the trial took place while he was already serving preventive detention.

The sentence marks a new chapter in Peru's protracted political crisis, which since 2016 has seen multiple presidents embroiled in scandals, resignations and judicial proceedings parade.