Overview
- The defense filed a request for presidential grace on Thursday, June 25, with lawyer Tomás Soldevilla invoking Article 118(21) of the Constitution to seek Pedro Castillo’s release.
- Minister Luis Jiménez Borra confirmed the file is under review by the Comisión de Gracias Presidenciales and stressed the petition is a request for grace, not an indulto.
- Former interior minister Wilfredo Pedraza said Castillo appears to meet formal requirements for grace because he has no final conviction, has been processed long enough and has shown good conduct in prison.
- The commission will produce a technical recommendation that is not legally binding, the president may depart from that view, and a valid grant requires the justice minister’s signature; there is no fixed deadline for a ruling.
- The outcome is likely to be decided on political grounds as well as law, which means timing could change with shifts in government and would directly affect Castillo’s detention at the Barbadillo prison.