A Peruvian appeals court upheld yesterday, Friday, March 31, 2023, the decision to detain the former president for 36 months Pedro Castillowho is accused of corruption among other things and was detained immediately after his suspension in December by parliament, which accused him of “rebellion”, of attempting a coup by announcing that he would dissolve it and rule by decree.

The permanent criminal division of the Supreme Court, with its president Cesar San Martin Castro“validated the (imposition of) 36 months of pre-trial detention imposed on former president Pedro Castillo Terrones,” accused, among other things, of “conspiracy and gang,” Peru’s judiciary said on Twitter.

As a result, the former president, 53 years old, will remain in custody until December 2025, while the prosecution will conduct an investigation into the cases against him.

On March 10, a judge announced in a digital hearing that it had been decided to extend Mr. Castillo’s pretrial detention from 18 to 36 months, accusing him of trying to unconstitutionally dissolve parliament, interfere with judicial decisions and begin to rule by decrees.

The former president had announced at the time that he would appeal the decision.

Two of his former ministers Pedro Castillo have also been remanded in custody as part of the investigation into a corruption case.

Mr Castillo, a former teacher and trade unionist, denies the allegations against him and says he feels he has been “kidnapped”.

The prosecution accuses the former president, who was elected with a party of the radical left, of being the head of a corruption ring, of money laundering, of having entrusted the management of public funds and public projects to the family and political environment of Mr.

Mr. Castillo, who was elected in 2021 and would theoretically rule until 2021, stepped down 17 months after taking office.

After his stop and arrest, the former president was taken on December 7 to the Barvadigo prison, a mini-detention center for senior officials at the headquarters of the police’s special operations directorate, in the eastern part of the country’s capital.

His downfall and his replacement by his former vice president Dina Boluarte they sparked mass mobilizations and bloody riots, with the new government imposing a state of emergency and bringing the army into the streets. Over 50 people were killed and around 600 were injured.

Mr. Castillo’s supporters are demanding that President Bolluarte resign, that Congress be dissolved, that presidential and parliamentary elections be called immediately and that a new Constitution be drawn up.