Former Peruvian president announces hunger strike to protest rebellion trial

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LIMA, Peru (AP) — Former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo said Monday that he was beginning a hunger strike in protest of the start of an oral trial against him for the alleged crime of rebellion. The prosecution has requested 34 years in prison for the former president.

Castillo, detained since Dec. 7, 2022 after a televised speech in which he declared the dissolution of Congress and his intent to rule by decree, said on his social networks that he has begun a hunger strike to protest “injustices committed against me.”

Castillo claimed that Judge Norma Carbajal, who previously stated armed rebellion “does not require physical violence,” has prejudged his case by “forcing the criminal type of rebellion” against him.

Castillo, 55, described his trial as “politicized” and a “pantomime” in previous sessions, and has refused legal counsel provided by the judicial system.

He denied committing rebellion during the trial’s opening last week, claiming, “The only thing I did was convey the people’s desire through a political speech.”

The Public Ministry accused Castillo for his attempt to dissolve Parliament on Dec. 7, 2022 to avoid a vote seeking his removal due to allegations of “permanent moral incapacity” to govern. Castillo did not achieve his goal because Congress removed him, he was sent to jail and his then vice president Dina Boluarte assumed power. More than 50 civilians died during three months of protests in the Andean country.

Castillo, a former union leader and rural school teacher who won Peru’s 2021 election with a surprise victory over the nation’s political establishment, faces another investigation by the prosecutor’s office for alleged acts of corruption during his government.

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