A court in Peru on Thursday summoned Marxist interim President José María Balcázar for an upcoming trial on embezzlement charges hours after he was installed to the presidency by the nation’s Congress.
The court emphatically stressed to Balcázar that attendance is compulsory under penalty of being declared in contempt and that it will order his arrest if he fails to show without valid justification.
Balcázar, a controversial pro-child marriage Marxist lawmaker, became the ninth president Peru has had in ten years on Wednesday after congress impeached former interim president José Jerí this week. Balcázar is presently the target of a series of probes and legal proceedings on allegations that he committed 13 different corruption-related criminal offences throughout his tenure as a lawmaker and as a judge.
The new interim President is also widely known for having issued public statements in support of child marriage in Peru.
Balcázar will serve as president until July 28, 2026, when he will be succeeded by the winner of the upcoming April 12 presidential election.
On Thursday, hours after Balcázar assumed office, the Second Single-Judge Criminal Court of Chiclayo summoned him after it determined to start oral argument proceedings on a trial for alleged embezzlement. As per the results of a local investigation, Balcázar stands accused of misappraising assets from the Lambayeque Bar Association and must present himself to the court on June 16, 2026, with the possibility of presenting his arguments through an online videoconference.
Speaking to RPP on Thursday evening Balcázar denied having committed any wrongdoing.
“I have no concerns about this matter, and I am pleased that they continue to say so, because throughout human history there have always been people who have devoted themselves to constant slander,” he said. “The big question should be asked [by the press] to those who speak out and criticize events that took place many years ago: why doesn’t the press ask where the evidence is that convicted Dr. Balcázar? There is absolutely nothing. That has even been archived.”
“But since the narrative is to cast doubt on me, I don’t pay any attention to it and I’m not going to pay any attention to it,” he continued. “People who, out of envy and professional issues I had in Lambayeque, should also be asked by those friends who put out little communiqués here and there what the real cause was.”
RPP reported that the Lambayeque Bar Association, which Balcázar stands accused of allegedly committing embezzlement against, had issued a public letter urging the Peruvian Congress not to appoint Balcázar as interim president at a time when his candidacy was brought up by lawmakers from the Marxist Free Peru party. The association justified its calls citing the numerous ongoing criminal complaints against Balcázar still pending resolution in court.
“This proposal has caused us, the lawyers at ICAL Lambayeque, deep concern, outrage, unease, pain, and sadness, not only at the institutional level, but also on a social, moral, and ethical level,” the Lambayeque Bar Association said in a statement.
The Argentine outlet Infobae reported on Thursday that Balcázar acted as legal counsel for a man convicted of luring a 12-year-old girl via Facebook for sexual purposes in 2019. The man was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison after the Supreme Court upheld the conviction following an appeal filed by Balcázar and his son.
Infobae also reported that, in 2015, Balcázar represented another individual sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and forced abortion of a minor. The defense sought a review of the sentence following a legal change, but the Supreme Court rejected the appeal on procedural grounds, upholding the original conviction. Infobae stressed that both legal actions are recorded in official documents of the Peruvian judicial system.
In 2023, Balcázar publicly stood in defense of child marriage at a time when Peruvian lawmakers proposed a bill barring the practice, which continues to be an issue in the South American nation. At the time, Balcázar claimed that “early sexual relations” contribute to “women’s psychological future.”
“It turns out that marriage in Peru has become completely dysfunctional. Today, people don’t get married; they all live together. From the age of 14, as they said, girls are already pregnant,” Balcázar reportedly said at the time.
“So, with the law, we want to prohibit only those people who become pregnant while underage. We want to prevent that, but how? Sex continues beyond what has been said about parents selling girls in the jungle,” he continued.
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