Castillo, a leftist former schoolteacher dubbed Peru's “first poor president“ on his election in 2021, was ousted and arrested 17 months into his term.
“I cannot submit to an oral trial where everything may be predetermined: this trial is a farce,“ Castillo told three judges of the Supreme Court as he made an appearance flanked by two penitentiary agents.
Prosecutors have asked for a 34-year prison sentence for Castillo, 55, on charges of rebellion and abuse of authority.
After taking office in July 2021, he faced vehement political opposition on all fronts and investigations started almost immediately into numerous graft claims.
He survived two impeachment votes and was about to be subjected to a third, which is what prompted his attempt to dissolve Congress and rule by decree.
His family are still at the embassy, seeking asylum.
He is the fourth former Peruvian president in the last quarter century to find himself in the dock on charges ranging from corruption to human rights violations.
Castillo was replaced by his vice-president, Dina Boluarte, who has clung to power despite numerous protests demanding she step down and call early elections.
Boluarte, 62, is being investigated over the deaths, though she enjoys immunity from prosecution until the presidential term she took over from Castillo ends in 2026.
She is also under investigation for allegedly accepting bribes in the form of Rolex watches and jewelry, and for allegedly abandoning her duties to have plastic surgery performed on her nose -- a procedure she insists was medical, not cosmetic.
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