Peru’s Supreme Court has handed former President Pedro Castillo a sentence of more than 11 years in prison for attempting to dissolve Congress, delivering the ruling just a day after another former president, Martín Vizcarra, was convicted and given 14 years for bribery. According to CNN, the consecutive judgments marked an unprecedented 48-hour period in which two of Peru’s recent leaders were sentenced in separate, high-stakes corruption and abuse-of-power cases.
Castillo’s conviction was issued during a special session of the Supreme Court held Thursday inside Lima’s Barbadillo Prison, where he has been held since December 7, 2022. The chamber found him guilty by a two-to-one vote of conspiracy, ruling that he improperly sought to dissolve Congress and assume extraordinary powers in late 2022. Prosecutors had originally accused him of rebellion and sought a 34-year sentence, but the court determined the higher charge was not met. Castillo argued throughout the proceedings that his televised announcement was a political message, not an official decree, and insisted he never attempted to flee or seek asylum.
The ruling detailed that immediately after his statement, Castillo attempted to travel to the Mexican Embassy, a move the court interpreted as an effort to avoid legal consequences. Castillo denied this claim, saying he was only accompanying his family and that escaping with his official escort would have been impossible. The court also credited the three years he has already spent in pre-trial detention toward his sentence.
Several members of Castillo’s former administration were also sentenced. Betssy Chávez, who served as president of the Council of Ministers, received a prison term, while former interior minister Willy Huerta was given a suspended sentence. Aníbal Torres, Castillo’s former chief of cabinet advisers, was also convicted. Castillo maintained that his ministers were not aware of the contents of his 2022 address and asserted that he alone bore responsibility.
The sentencing came just one day after Vizcarra’s conviction in a separate case heard in Lima. Prosecutors accused Vizcarra of accepting bribes from private contractors when he was governor of Moquegua between 2011 and 2014. He denied the allegations, saying contractors presented claims they could not prove.
In addition to the 14-year sentence, he received a nine-year ban from holding public office. His political trajectory has been marked by upheaval, including his impeachment in 2020 over the same scandal and a previous period of preventive detention at Barbadillo.
The two rulings add to Peru’s long pattern of legal turmoil involving former presidents. Since the early 2000s, nearly every head of state has faced prosecution, including Alberto Fujimori, Alejandro Toledo, Ollanta Humala and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski—underscoring the persistent instability that has defined the country’s political landscape.
(With Inputs from Agencies)
