The President of Peru Dina Boluarte was questioned on Tuesday by the prosecutor in charge of the investigation into the repression of the demonstrations which followed the ousting of her predecessor and left around fifty dead in three months.
Dina Boluarte, who replaced Pedro Castillo in December, dismissed by Parliament, appeared for almost an hour and a half to respond to "
the investigation into the deaths of citizens that occurred during the social mobilizations of December 2022 and January 2023
" , said the prosecution.
The presidency said on Twitter, without further details, that Dina Boluarte "
made statements regarding the investigations
".
The 60-year-old president arrived at the courthouse smiling, heavily escorted, according to images shared on social networks by the prosecution.
No gathering of supporters or opponent Dina Ms. Boluarte "
wants to help discover the truth
," said his lawyer Kelly Montenegro to the newspaper El Comercio.
Read alsoPeru: six soldiers drowned while fleeing demonstrators
The Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation against Dina Boluarte on January 10 for alleged crimes of "
genocide, aggravated homicide and serious injury
" during the anti-government demonstrations in which 54 people lost their lives, including six soldiers who drowned. this weekend while trying to flee hundreds of protesters who were attacking them.
According to the ombudsman's office, 1,300 people were also injured, almost half of them men in uniform.
Several ministers and former ministers of his government are also targeted by this investigation.
New charges
Peru is embroiled in a serious political and social crisis which erupted on December 7 with the ousting and imprisonment of the former left-wing president, replaced by his vice-president.
Pedro Castillo, 53, is accused of having attempted a coup d'etat by wanting to dissolve the Assembly which was preparing to oust him from power.
In a separate hearing, the ex-president appeared on Tuesday after the prosecution's request to extend his pre-trial detention from 18 to 36 months.
The prosecution wishes to add the charges of “
criminal organization, collusion and influence peddling
” to that of “
rebellion
” and “
conspiracy
” already retained.
“
I firmly and categorically deny being responsible and being part of a criminal network
,” Pedro Castillo said during the virtual hearing.
“
The only crime I committed was to serve my country as President of the Republic
,” added the former head of state, who said he felt “
kidnapped
”.
His fall after 17 months at the head of the country triggered violent clashes between demonstrators supporting him and the police.
In addition to the resignation of Dina Boluarte, the protesters demand the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of early elections in 2023.
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