Overview
- Closing arguments concluded on November 14, moving the oral trial into the defendants’ self-defense stage while Pedro Castillo remains in preventive detention.
- Public defender Ricardo Hernández argued there was no armed uprising or conspiracy, calling Castillo’s 2022 announcement a solitary political proclamation without operational planning.
- Addressing the judges, Hernández invoked the viral “chicken” story to frame the decision as a stark choice between acquittal or conviction.
- Prosecutors maintain the evidence points to an attempted coup, citing the televised message, alleged coordination with senior officials, movements inside the Government Palace, and subsequent actions.
- Legal and political stakes are high, with a conviction potentially setting a precedent for presidential accountability and an acquittal likely reigniting scrutiny of institutional responses in December 2022.