Peru: First Trial against Former President Alberto Fujimori Ends in Six-Year Sentence

A top Peruvian court has sentenced former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) to six years in prison in the first of several trials on human rights and corruption charges against him. On Dec. 11, the court handed down the sentence of six years and a fine of hundreds of thousands of soles for Fujimori's "abuse of authority" when he allowed the search of his former spy chief's luxury apartment without a warrant. Fujimori, 69, still faces allegations including murder, kidnapping, and corruption that could result in a maximum sentence of 30 years.

Fujimori fled Peru for Japan at the end of his presidency in 2000 and took residence there for five years as the Japanese government refused to extradite him (see NotiSur, 2000-12-22). In what appeared to be a badly considered attempt to insert himself into the 2005 presidential election in Peru, Fujimori rented a private jet and flew back to Latin America, landing ultimately in Chile where he was arrested and held while the country's courts considered Peru's extradition request (see NotiSur, 2005-10-14 and 2005-11-18).

The Chilean government extradited Fujimori in September 2007, following a Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) decision (see NotiSur, 2007-10-05).

Peru's chief prosecutor Carlos Briceno told the press in September that the trials against Fujimori would be "an extremely rapid process of some three or four months."

Fujimori still has a significant power bloc within Peru supporting him, with more than a dozen members of Congress allied with him, but a large number of citizens revile the ex-president as an authoritarian leader who abused his powers.

Conviction for searching Montesinos' home without warrant

Peruvian Supreme Court …

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Publication information: Article title: Peru: First Trial against Former President Alberto Fujimori Ends in Six-Year Sentence. Contributors: Not available. Magazine title: NotiSur - South American Political and Economic Affairs. Publication date: January 11, 2008. Page number: Not available. © 2009 Latin American Data Base/Latin American Institute. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale Group.

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