An online corruption hearing into Peruvian president Pedro Castillo was interrupted on Wednesday by a dancing stripper.
The footage of Ricardo Milos gyrating flashed up on the screen, prompting prosecutor Samuel Rojas to halt proceedings, he said: “They are showing very suggestive images.”
The embarassing gaffe occurred just as Rojas was outlining the reasons why Castillo should be investigated. The hearing was being publicly broadcast on the judiciary branch’s television channel, with the clip later shared widely on social media.
The video of Milos, who is Brazilian, appeared through the user account of Benji Espinosa, a member of Castillo’s defense team. Espinosa denied that he was responsible for the video and says he was the victim of “computer crime”.
“The video appeared abruptly, giving the impression that it came from my account, which I reject,” Espinosa told Reuters by phone.
The lawyer added he was filing a complaint with the judge and claimed that the incident “shows that the virtual system of the judiciary is vulnerable”.
A supreme court judge is evaluating a request to throw out the investigation into whether the president led a corruption plot involving his former minister of transport and communications, Juan Silva, who is currently in hiding.
The president’s legal defense team is trying to prevent prosecutors from questioning him at a hearing scheduled for Friday.
Leftist president Castillo currently faces scrutiny of alleged corruption in his government, social protests and a fall in popularity after 10 months in power.
Additonal reporting by Reuters
