The Constitutional Court docket of Peru has paused investigations into Dina Boluarte till her time period ends in 2026, citing her place because the nation’s sitting president.
On Tuesday, the court docket suspended probes led by the general public prosecutor’s workplace that appeared into alleged misconduct underneath Boluarte.
“The suspended investigations will proceed after the tip of the presidential time period,” the ruling defined.
Some of the important probes needed to do with Boluarte’s response to the protests that erupted in Peru in December 2022, after the embattled president on the time, Pedro Castillo, tried to dissolve Congress.
As a substitute, Castillo was impeached, faraway from workplace and imprisoned, with critics calling his actions an tried coup d’etat.
His elimination, in flip, prompted months of intense public backlash: Hundreds of protesters blocked roads and led marches in assist of the left-wing chief.
Boluarte, who took over the presidency, declared a state of emergency in response, and the following clashes between the police and protesters killed greater than 60 folks and left tons of injured.
The Inter-American Fee on Human Rights discovered that, in sure components of the nation, “the disproportionate, indiscriminate, and deadly use of power was a serious ingredient of the State response to the protests”.
It famous that “a big variety of victims weren’t even concerned within the protests”.
In January 2023, Lawyer Normal Patricia Benavides launched a probe into the actions of Boluarte and her ministers. By November of that yr, Benavides had filed a constitutional criticism, accusing Boluarte of inflicting demise and harm to protesters.
The general public prosecutor’s workplace later put aside a part of the investigation, which delved into whether or not Boluarte’s actions amounted to “genocide”.
Boluarte has denied any wrongdoing and as an alternative known as the protest probe a distraction from the legal professional common’s personal public scandals.
However Boluarte has continued to face probes into different elements of her presidency.
Police in 2024 raided her house and the presidential palace as a part of the “Rolex case”, an investigation prompted by media experiences that Boluarte owned a number of luxurious watches and high-end jewelry that had been past her means to buy. Critics have accused her of in search of illicit enrichment.
Boluarte, nonetheless, mentioned her palms had been “clear”, and Congress denied motions to question her over the “Rolex case”.
One other investigation appeared into her absence from workplace in 2023, when Boluarte mentioned she needed to endure a “crucial and important” medical process on her nostril — although critics have mentioned it was a beauty process.
Her absence, they argue, was subsequently a dereliction of responsibility, accomplished with out notifying Congress. In that case, too, Boluarte has denied the fees.
Peru has weathered a lot instability in its authorities: Boluarte is the sixth president in seven years, and nearly all of Peru’s presidents have confronted prison investigations, if not convictions, within the final quarter century.
Boluarte, nonetheless, had petitioned the Constitutional Court docket to cease the investigations till her time period is over.
She is ready to exit her workplace on July 28, 2026, after calling for a brand new common election in March. She has confronted public stress to resign since taking up for Castillo in December 2022.
