Pedro Castillo Claims He Was Victim of a Plot

On Thursday, Pedro Castillo, Peru's former president, during a new virtual appearance from the jail where he is serving an 18-month prison sentence on charges of rebellion after the failed attempt to shut down the parliament, affirmed that he was victim of a plot by the Prosecutor's Office and his country's Congress.

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"I am convinced that the Prosecutor's Office is a real effective collaborator of this Congress and the de facto government. There has been a whole plan, a plot", Castillo said, adding that he is not under arrest, but kidnapped in the Peruvian prison of Barbadillo.

The declarations of former president Castillo occurred in the middle of a judicial hearing in which a new appeal in favor of the former president, presented by his defense, was analyzed, and he also considered that his right to defense is not being respected in a pertinent manner.

In response to Pedro Castillo's statements, Judge Juan Carlos Checkley reminded him that he is being detained due to a preventive detention order that has been ratified by a court of law, adding that the purpose of the hearing was to "listen to him and attend to the requirements."

Last December 7, Pedro Castillo was arrested by Peruvian security forces after his failed attempt to dissolve the Congress, intervene all the institutions of the Justice system and form an emergency Executive that was to govern by decree.

Official records show that the actions of the Castillo were rejected by all the institutions of the country and he was dismissed by the Peruvian Parliament.

After Castillo's dismissal, the Congress, led by right-wing sectors, appointed the then Vice President Dina Boluarte as the new head of state by constitutional succession.