Residents of Ayacucho in southern Peru this Friday night, coordinated via social media, held a cacerolazo to protest the deaths and dozens of injuries caused by government repression of protesters demanding the closure of Congress.
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Judge sentences former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo to 18 months preventive detention
On various Facebook pages, users from this region called for people to join this popular protest this Friday, December 16 at 8:00 p.m. “No minute’s silence for our dead and wounded,” the appeal said.
The capital of the Ayacucho region on Friday became Peru’s deadliest protest zone where general elections are being called, and the previous day’s events were reminded by several residents of the bloody past of human rights abuses in the region.
A massacre takes place in Peru. Today the police and military killed 5 comrades in Ayacucho. The government and Congress are complicit in the bloodshed of our brothers. They deserve all the rejection that the Peruvian people shouted at them on the streets. pic.twitter.com/8yLpkduDaz
– Francesca Emanuele (@emanuelefrance6)
December 16, 2022
“We are returning to those painful years,” said Rocío Leandro, leader of the Ayacucho Defense Front, an organization that discloses popular demands to the authorities.
He was referring to the bloody period from 1980 to 2000 during Peru’s internal armed conflict, which saw gross human rights violations and abuses by uniformed officials.
The demonstrators are also demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the parliament, according to all polls the least popular state institution in the country.
#Peru About 22 people intervened at the premises of the Peasant Confederation of Peru CCP. According to one of them, “The objects (machetes) they show are not those of those who were there.” pic.twitter.com/TRdtnAkzq4
— JAIME HERRERA (@JaimeHerreraCaj)
December 17, 2022
Bonfires were seen at various corners of the streets of Huamanga’s historic center on Friday.
Scores of protesters clashed with police in the city amid a wave of protests across different parts of the country that have left 20 people dead and more than 200 injured in less than a week.
This Saturday, the residents of the city began to say goodbye to their deceased, victims of state repression.
Wake up at this time in Ayacucho. Edgar Prado Arango (50 years old) almost died in front of his house while going out to help the wounded. Your family needs support. (I share direct family number for support via Yape: 981301037, Edison Carrión) pic.twitter.com/guMRz19f4S
—Wilber Huacasi (@whuacasi)
December 17, 2022
On the other hand, Peru’s National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) confirmed that former President Pedro Castillo will serve the 18-month preventive detention imposed on him by a judge in the prison reserved for high-ranking ex-authorities in the South American country.
Barbadillo Prison is where ex-President Alberto Fujimori is serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity.
“The Technical Classification Board of the INPE (…) has decided that the defendant Pedro Castillo Terrones will be placed in the ordinary regime,” the INPE announced in a statement detailing that the former President entered the regime on February 27 Barbadillo prison is being relocated to Ate outskirts of Lima.
Peru’s Supreme Court for Preliminary Investigations sentenced the ex-president to 18 months in pre-trial detention while he is being investigated on charges of crimes including rebellion, conspiracy, abuse of office and disturbing the public order.
The Peruvian judiciary has approved the prosecutor’s request to preventively detain the ex-president for a period of 18 months after discovering the allegations that could see Castillo face more than four years in prison.
At least 50 National Police agents are currently deployed at the premises of the Nuevo Perú political party and the Peasant Confederation of Peru (CCP), both located in the Bolognesi Oval in the Cercado de Lima.
As part of the second day of the state of emergency declared by the government in the face of violent protests in Peru, the National Police arrived at these premises to search for protesters who were coming to the capital from different parts of the country. according to a report by the National Coordinator for Human Rights.