LIMA: Peruvian ex-president Pedro Castillo on Tuesday dismissed rebellion charges against him as a farce as he went on trial for an attempt to dissolve Congress to avoid impeachment for alleged graft.
Castillo, a leftist former schoolteacher dubbed Peru's “first poor president“ on his election in 2021, was ousted and arrested 17 months into his term.
He has been held in preventive custody since December 2022, and on Tuesday attended the opening of his trial, expected to last months.
“I cannot submit to an oral trial where everything may be predetermined: this trial is a farce,“ Castillo told three judges of the Supreme Court as he made an appearance flanked by two penitentiary agents.
He was dressed in a light-colored shirt, dark pants and without his trademark wide-brimmed straw hat.
Prosecutors have asked for a 34-year prison sentence for Castillo, 55, on charges of rebellion and abuse of authority.
Born in a small village where he taught for 24 years, Castillo gained national prominence as a union leader during a teachers' strike in 2017.
After taking office in July 2021, he faced vehement political opposition on all fronts and investigations started almost immediately into numerous graft claims.
Castillo rejected the allegations, calling them part of a political plot to oust him.
He survived two impeachment votes and was about to be subjected to a third, which is what prompted his attempt to dissolve Congress and rule by decree.
Instead, Castillo was arrested as he was making his way to the Mexican Embassy in Lima with his wife and two children.
His family are still at the embassy, seeking asylum.
Three ex-ministers, a former presidential adviser and three police officials are on trial with Castillo.
He is the fourth former Peruvian president in the last quarter century to find himself in the dock on charges ranging from corruption to human rights violations.
Peru suffers from chronic political instability and has had six presidents in the past eight years.
Castillo was replaced by his vice-president, Dina Boluarte, who has clung to power despite numerous protests demanding she step down and call early elections.
A crackdown left 50 protesters and bystanders -- including eight children -- dead, according to Human Rights Watch.
Boluarte, 62, is being investigated over the deaths, though she enjoys immunity from prosecution until the presidential term she took over from Castillo ends in 2026.
She is also under investigation for allegedly accepting bribes in the form of Rolex watches and jewelry, and for allegedly abandoning her duties to have plastic surgery performed on her nose -- a procedure she insists was medical, not cosmetic.
