The left-wing leader and former candidate of Frente Juntos por el Perú, Roberto Sánchez, called this Monday (13) a popular mobilization for Wednesday (15) demanding the release of former president Pedro Castillo. The date coincides with the delivery of credentials to right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori by the National Electoral Board (JNE). The inauguration takes place on the 28th.
The call comes after the publication on Friday (10) of the opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, made up of independent experts, which considered the arrest of the former Peruvian president “arbitrary” and recommended his immediate release.
Sánchez demands release in consideration of “sovereignty” and “international treaties”.
“When arbitrary acts occurred, the Peruvian State always offered reparations”, emphasized Sánchez, in a press conference. And he challenged the interim president of Peru, José María Balcázar. “Today, it is your responsibility,” he said.
Balcázar stated that the United Nations document “slightly modifies the legal and constitutional framework on how a pardon can be granted to a detained person.”
Sánchez, in turn, criticized the note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declaring that the UN panel’s decision has no direct effect on Peruvian legislation.
Balcázar remains in power until the 28th, when he passes the presidency to Keiko Fujimori. The ultra-rightist’s victory is questioned by Sánchez, who accuses her of manipulating the votes from abroad that decided the tight election.
Roberto Sánchez says that the process was marked by administrative failures and problems in the custody of electoral ballots. The daughter of former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori won with a difference of just 49,641 votes.
Castillo called the recommendation “historic”. “This decision confirms, unequivocally, that my incarceration was never justified and that it was carried out in violation of fundamental norms”, said the former representative at X.
Prison ignored presidential immunity
Castillo, a teacher and trade unionist who won the elections in 2021, was arrested in December of the following year, when he tried to dissolve Congress, which was preparing to dismiss him. Last November, he was sentenced to 11 and a half years in prison for conspiracy to riot.
Experts maintain that his arrest occurred without an independent judicial order, having been determined by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. And his detention did not respect Castillo’s immunity as president and his right to defense was harmed, according to the report, which also requests compensation.
Castillo was arrested by police while heading to the Mexican embassy in Lima and remains detained in a prison exclusively for former presidents, located in the Peruvian capital.
His fall triggered violent protests that left more than 50 civilians dead as a result of repression by state forces.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
