Peru’s Judiciary President defends independence of judges after Castillo’s accusations

The president of the Peruvian Judiciary, Elvia Barrios, has rejected this Friday the accusation made by the Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, in which the president pointed to the country’s Justice of being part of a conspiracy to overthrow him from power.

“In these days, we have appreciated that there is a serious conflict between the Executive Power and the Legislative Power, so as Judicial Power we are not going to enter that conflictive stage. What we try to provide is a solution to all problems, through our judicial decisions,” Barrios said in statements to the state-owned TV Peru channel.

Consulted on the president’s statements, Barrios has emphasized that the Judiciary does not belong to “any confabulation” or any “political persecution.” “We only fulfill our duty and obligation to impart justice”, said Barrios, defending the independence of the judges “at the moment of resolving” the cases.

Pedro Castillo maintained that the opposition and the Judiciary were trying to “snatch from the Peruvian people their legitimate Government” after a diligence of the Investigation Division of High Complexity Crimes (Diviac) of the Police and the Prosecutor’s Office went to the Government Palace in search of his sister-in-law, Yenifer Paredes, accused of influence peddling.

“Today, the Government Palace and the Presidential House, once again, have been violated with an illegal raid endorsed by a judge (…) to take away from the Peruvian people their legitimate Government”, expressed the Peruvian president in an official statement.

After the latest episodes of litigation between Government and opposition, the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) showed its concern last week for the conflictive situation faced by Peru and urged the dialogue between the Executive and the Congress to solve “the institutional crisis”.