Almost three years after that infamous message to the nation with which he attempted to impose a de facto government, Pedro Castillo Terrones has been punished by justice. The former president has been sentenced to 11 years, five months and 15 days in prison for the coup d’état of December 7, 2022 that Peruvians do not forget. A riot that fortunately only amounted to the blink of an eye.
The one that did not blink this Thursday was the Special Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court that found the coup plotter responsible for the crime of conspiracy to rebel.
His henchmen also received their punishment: Betssy Chávez, the former prime minister and at the time the coup plotter’s right-hand woman, and former Interior Minister Willy Huerta were given the same sentence as Castillo (11 years, 5 months and 15 days); while Aníbal Torres, the former cabinet advisor, was sentenced to 6 years and 8 months in prison. The execution of the sentence was suspended for the latter two. Castillo and Chávez were disqualified from holding public office for two years.
During the reading of the advance sentence, the court determined that the message that Castillo read was an “express manifestation” that the then president “arrogated to himself the exercise of power, configuring the assumption of rebellion” and that the other defendants had the intention at all times to materialize the content of that message.
According to the court, Chávez and Torres not only knew the content of the message, but also participated in its preparation while in the Palace. The complicity of both is proven: after the coup message, Castillo hugged both of them and even his then premier told him: “Good, president.”
It was proven to the court that Chávez had a group of journalists enter irregularly and that when he resigned after the coup he ordered that a PCM vehicle, for which he was no longer responsible, go to the Mexican embassy. Ironically, Chávez is now sheltered in that residence; The court thus, in addition to his years in prison, ordered his national and international arrest and capture.
Regarding Huerta, the judges point out that his participation in the coup was proven when it was proven that he provided Castillo with his cell phone from which the coup plotter ordered the closure of Congress to Raúl Alfaro, then general commander of the Police.
TYPIFICATION OF THE CRIME
And although it was proven that the coup plotter imprisoned today attacked the constitutional order, the central point of the judges’ discussion was the classification of the crime: in the end they opted for conspiracy and not rebellion, as the prosecution alleged, since an uprising did not take place.
The court acquitted the former president of the other crimes for which the prosecution accused him: abuse of authority and serious disturbance of public tranquility.
Free of these crimes, the coup plotter received a sentence of almost 23 years less than what the Public Ministry requested. According to what was read by Judge Norma Carbajal, Castillo’s sentence must expire on May 21, 2034, since the days of preventive detention that he has been serving are deducted.
But since the crime of conspiracy has not been subject to prison restrictions, the man who broke the democratic order in the country could benefit from the benefit of 2×1 and be freed much sooner than he deserves.
The constitutionalist and specialist in criminal issues Aníbal Quiroga confirmed this possibility:
“Conspiracy is a crime that, since it has not been used, is among the common crimes of the bunch that are susceptible to prison benefits. So, effectively, benefits such as 2×1 could be applied to Castillo if his sentence were upheld and he was released sooner. Unless another sentence is imposed later for something else,” explains Quiroga.
In addition, after the coup d’état, Castillo is investigated for criminal organization. Even in March 2023, while he was already in prison, the Judiciary imposed preventive detention on him for this.
Last July, in addition, the Prosecutor’s Office filed a constitutional complaint against him also for criminal organization, influence peddling and aggravated collusion, in the so-called Los Niño case. Two cases of corruption that could extend his stay in prison without restriction.
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