LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s Congress passed a constitutional complaint on Friday against former President Pedro Castillo, who was ousted in December, for alleged crimes of corruption in his administration .
The complaint allows Attorney General Patricia Benavides to now formally accuse Castillo, who has been in detention since his removal, of the crimes before Peru’s judiciary.
Peru, a country of some 34 million people, has been in the throes of its worst unrest in decades since the abrupt Dec. 7 ouster and arrest of center-left Castillo after he tried to illegally shutter Congress to avoid impeachment. He faces charges of “rebellion.”
Dozens of people have been killed in the violent clashes between protesters and police, as well as traffic accidents and other issues related to road blockades that have followed.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Kylie Madry and Anthony Esposito; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle)
