Overview
- The Ministry of Justice’s Comisión de Gracias Presidenciales is scheduled to meet this Friday to draft the technical report that is a required step before any presidential pardon decision.
- President José María Balcázar has not decided whether to grant clemency and the Justice Minister has publicly refused to sign documents linked to a pardon.
- Congress President Fernando Rospigliosi has declared any pardon illegal and warned that officials who approve it could face serious legal responsibilities.
- The commission has asked the Judiciary for files and the resolution that opened Castillo’s investigations as part of its legal review while MINJUS sources say officials are seeking a defensible legal route.
- Castillo is a convicted ex‑president held in preventive detention with charges related to an attempted coup, and the holiday period and government transition raise pressure over timing and who will make the final call.