LIMA, Peru (AP) — A Peruvian judge on Thursday ordered ousted President Pedro Castillo to remain in custody for 18 months, approving a request from authorities for time to build their rebellion case against him.

The judge’s decision came a day after the government declared a police state as it struggles to calm violent protests that have led to at least eight deaths.

The protests erupted after Castillo was voted out of power by lawmakers last week, following his attempt to dissolve Congress ahead of an impeachment vote.

Judge Cesar San Martin Castro’s ruling came days after Congress stripped Castillo of the privilege that keeps Peru’s presidents from facing criminal charges.

Castillo and his legal team refused to participate in Thursday’s virtual hearing, arguing it lacked “minimum guarantees.” He was represented by a public defender.

Castillo’s supporters began protesting last week after he was removed from power and taken into custody following his attempt to dissolve Congress ahead of an impeachment vote. The latest political crisis has only deepened the instability gripping the country, with six presidents coming and going in as many years.

Peru’s Supreme Prosecutor Alcides Chinchay said in court Thursday that Castillo faces at least 10 years in prison for the rebellion charge.

Meanwhile, a large group of protesters — and police in riot gear — gathered in central Lima Thursday evening. The government also imposed a curfew in at least 15 communities, as allowed by the nationwide emergency declaration issued Wednesday.

The protesters were demanding Castillo’s freedom, the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, and the immediate scheduling of general elections to pick a new president and members of Congress. They have burned police stations, taken over an airstrip used by the armed forces and invaded the runway of the international airport in Arequipa, a gateway to some of Peru’s tourist attractions.

Thousands of tourists have been affected by the protests. The passenger train that carries visitors to Machu Picchu suspended service, and roadblocks on the Pan-American Highway stranded trailer trucks for days, spoiling food bound for the capital.

In Cusco, a top tourist destination, people were stuck Thursday at hotels and the airport. Among them are 20 citizens of Ecuador, according to a statement from that country’s foreign affairs ministry.

Peru’s tourism industry is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, which reduced visitations last year to 400,000, down from 4.4 million in 2019.

While in office, Castillo spent much of his time defending himself against attacks from an adversarial Congress and investigations ranging from corruption to plagiarism. Now, it remains unclear whether Boluarte — once his running mate and vice president — will get a chance to govern. Just like Castillo, she is a newcomer to politics without a base in Congress.

Boluarte on Wednesday sought to placate protesters by saying general elections could potentially be scheduled for December 2023, four months earlier than the timing she had proposed to Congress just a few days earlier.

All of the protest-related deaths have occurred in rural, impoverished communities outside Lima that are strongholds for Castillo, a political neophyte and former schoolteacher from a poor Andean mountain district.

On Wednesday, Boluarte pleaded for calm as demonstrations continued against her and Congress.

“Peru cannot overflow with blood,” she said.