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Pedro Castillo celebrates the presidential victory over Keiko Fujimori, in Lima, Peru, on June 7, 2021. Photo: AP
In his appearance before the Supervisory Commission of the Peruvian Congress, the deposed president Pedro Castillo assured that he continues to be the constitutional president of the Andean country.
"I am still the constitutional president of Peru," Castillo said Wednesday from the Barbadillo prison, where he has been
deprived of liberty since last December
, accused of conspiracy crimes and investigated for alleged corruption schemes that the Prosecutor's Office charges him with.
The former president was summoned to testify before that parliamentary body, as an investigated, for the investigations into one of the various cases that accuse him of being a participant in an alleged criminal organization.
When congressman Héctor Ventura, from the Fuerza Popular bench of Fujimori and one of the opposition groups that acted most radically against the Castillo government, asked him to testify under oath, the former president took the opportunity to make his clarification and ratify that he continues being head of state.
Castillo also expressed his
"deep solidarity with the families" of the victims killed, injured, and tortured by the repression and violations of human rights by the public forces during the Dina Boluarte regime.
In the same way, he denounced that he had previously requested the Oversight Commission of Congress
to participate in that summons in person
, but that instance has insisted on denying the possibility, alleging that he is serving a preventive detention measure.
Castillo's words were given in a forced way because
he was interrupted and censored by Congressman Ventura
, until the parliamentarian asked to turn off the ex-president's microphone.
Meanwhile,
the former president refused to respond because he aspires to make his speech in person
.
When Ventura made a new call to be sworn in to testify at that session, Castillo said: "I will swear in person."
Ventura, who is also president of the Congressional Oversight Commission, asserted to the press that an inmate – referring to Castillo – was not going to "put conditions" on that instance, and considered that the former president would have tried to "delay, hinder and obstruct the development of the session.
Given Castillo's refusal to testify by videoconference, the congressman decided to reschedule the
former president's
statement for next May 5 .
Ventura added that the Commission will evaluate making
a new criminal complaint against Castillo for contempt
of authority during the session.
Regarding the former president's request, the congressman announced that
they will analyze the possibility
of moving or not to the facilities of the Barbadillo prison.
(Taken from RT in Spanish)
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