Dressed in the jersey of the Peruvian national soccer team or dressed in white, around a thousand Peruvians marched on Friday afternoon (December 16th) in the capital Lima to show their support for the Armed Forces and National Police.
This happened within the anti-government protests of the last few days in different areas of the country, where 20 people lost their lives and over 200 policemen were injured.
Dubbed the “March for Peace” and called by civil organizations, participants called for an end to the violence and thanked law enforcement agencies for their work in maintaining security in the country.
“National Police, the pride of Peru”, “Terrorism never again” and “Peru, I love you, so protect me”, were some of the calls of the citizens, who carried white balloons as a symbol of peace.
The participants gathered in the center of Lima and ended in San Martín Square, where in recent days, demonstrators from different parts of Peru have tried to attack and are calling for the closure of Congress and early elections, as well as the convening of a Constituent Assembly . .
Peru has experienced days of social and political tension since December 7, the day of former President Pedro Castillo’s failed self-coup, when Congress overthrew him and he was arrested shortly after.
Because of this, Peruvian justice decreed 18 months of detention for the former governor.
The vice president, Dina Boluarte, was immediately sworn in as head of state, and three days later, demonstrations, protests and riots erupted across much of the country.
CASTILLO TO SERVE 18 MONTHS
Pedro Castillo will serve 18 months of detention in the Barbadillo prison, located in the same police barracks where former ruler Alberto Fujimori is also serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity, the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) announced. Friday (December 16).
The agency said in a statement that the decision to hold Castillo in the same place where he had been temporarily detained since December 7 was taken “for security reasons, to protect his personal physical integrity, due to his status as a former president of the Republic. .
Furthermore, he detailed that the Technical Classification Board of the INPE, composed of a psychologist, a lawyer and a social worker, initially determined that the former governor should be placed “in the usual regime” of imprisonment.
“The National Institute of Punishment guarantees the safety and physical integrity of persons deprived of their liberty in the institutions serving the sentence at the national level,” he added.
Judge Juan Carlos Checkley of Peru’s Supreme Preparatory Investigation Court on Thursday (December 15th) ordered 18 months in prison for the former president while he is investigated for crimes of rebellion and gang formation for the failed December 7th coup.
In this way, the judge accepted the request of the Public Ministry that had considered that “there is a procedural period of flight”, which had a specific weight due to the fact that a few minutes before leaving office, he tried to go to the Mexican embassy in Lima to request asylum
Castillo will be investigated as an alleged co-author of the crimes of rebellion and the creation of a gang, as well as a suspected author of the crimes of abuse of authority and serious disturbance of public peace.
The investigation has been described as “complex” by the Public Ministry and will last eight months.
The government raises to 20 the number of dead in the protests in Peru
Also on Friday (December 16), the Peruvian Ministry of Health confirmed that up to that point, 20 people had died and 63 remained hospitalized following protests that took place in various parts of the country demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the closure of Congress, among other demands.
The Peruvian Ministry of Health detailed on Twitter that, of the total number of deaths, eight occurred in the department of Ayacucho, six in Apurímac, three in La Libertad, one in Cusco, another in Junín and another in Arequipa.
As for the inpatients, 26 of them are located in Ayacucho.
On Thursday, protesters tried to occupy the airport, prompting the military to open fire on them, as seen in several videos on social media.
With information from Gazeta do Povo
