There will be a total of 65 witnesses, 40 presented by the Prosecutor’s Office and 25 by the defense of the former ruler imprisoned and dismissed by Parliament, when he tried on December 7, 2022 to dissolve it with military and police support, support that was denied to him by the uniformed officers, who closed ranks with Congress.

Among those called to testify is the former head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, Manuel Gómez de la Torre, who held office during the military and police operations that quelled protests against the rise of the then vice president, Dina Boluarte, as Castillo’s successor.

These operations left a balance of fifty dead civilians, almost all by shots fired by the uniformed officers, according to human rights organizations.

Also to be questioned are the former general commanders of the National Police, Jorge Angulo and Raúl Alfaro; former collaborators of Castillo, such as his former ministers Emilio Bobbio (Defense), Félix Chero (Justice), César Landa (Foreign Relations), Alejandro Salas (Labor) and Heidi Juárez (Women).

Also to give their testimonies are the far-right congressmen Martha Moyano, Vivían Olivos, Adriana Tudela and Diego Bazán, and the lawyer Benji Espinoza, former defender of the former president. The court will be installed in the prison for former high-ranking officials that Castillo occupies along with the neoliberal Alejandro Toledo, sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison for corruption

The hearings will begin there on March 4 and will continue every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, unlike the investigation and debate stage prior to the trial, in which the former ruler participated remotely, by teleconference.

Castillo has tried in vain to obtain his freedom and the cancellation of the process, with the allegation that the main crime of which he is accused, rebellion, is committed, according to the penal code, by collectively taking up arms, which he did not do.

However, his accusers maintain that Castillo’s ordering the Armed Forces and the Police to put into practice the decree of dissolution of Parliament and reorganization of the organs of justice qualifies as the use of weapons.

ef/arc/mrs