Peru's former president Pedro Castillo gestures in the courtroom of the National Police Special Operations Directorate (DINOES) as the verdict is issued in his trial in Lima on November 27, 2025. ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP
Peru's Supreme Court on Thursday, November 27, sentenced former left-wing president Pedro Castillo to 11 years, five months and 15 days in prison for trying to disband Congress and rule by decree in December 2022.
Dubbed Peru's first poor president, the former rural schoolteacher, who had never held elected office before winning the presidency, was impeached by Congress and jailed all in the same day following his attempted power grab. He had repeatedly clashed with an opposition-dominated Congress during his 16 months in power.
The verdict in his case comes a day after another left-wing ex-president, Martin Vizcarra, was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment for bribe-taking while serving as a regional governor. Vizcarra joined two other former presidents already behind bars at a special penitentiary for ex-leaders in Lima: Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) and Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006).
Castillo, 56, was also imprisoned at the facility pending his trial. The former trade unionist, who won power in 2021 on a promise to uplift Peru's poor, took the shock decision to dissolve Congress to try to avoid impeachment for alleged corruption.
