SANTIAGO (AFP) - Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori lost a long
legal battle Friday as Chile's Supreme Court ordered his extradition to
Peru to face trial on corruption and human rights abuses.
The decision, which cannot be appealed, will send Fujimori back to his
home country after seven years in exile to stand trial over alleged
massacres and rampant graft during his 1990-2000 rule.
"We have awarded the extradition," announced judge Alberto Chaigneau,
adding the court's decision was based on the weight of one human rights
charge -- covering two separate massacres -- and six corruption charges.
In Peru, rights groups and relatives of victims of Fujimori's regime
hailed the ruling while the government promised a fair trial.
Human Rights Watch called the decision an unprecedented step forward
for international justice.
"This is the first time that a court has ordered the extradition of a
former head of state to be tried for gross human rights violations in
his home country," the US-based organization said in a statement.
"After years of evading justice, Fujimori will finally have to respond
to the charges and evidence against him in the country he used to run
like a mafia boss," said HRW's Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco,
who was in Santiago for the announcement.
Under house arrest in Santiago since 2005, Fujimori, 69, fled Peru in
2000 to Japan amid a corruption scandal and resigned by fax from a
Tokyo hotel.
Once known as a master strategist, Fujimori appeared to have
miscalculated when he was detained in Chile in 2005 on his way to Peru
hoping to make a political comeback.
Instead of a triumphant return to Peru as a candidate, he will now be
coming back to stand trial on grave charges he backed death squads that
killed civilians, and misused public funds. He faces up to 30 years in
jail for the human rights charges and 10 for the accusations of
corruption.
As Chile prepared to transfer Fujimori later Friday by land and air,
Peru welcomed the ruling, pledging a fair legal process and dignified
treatment for the ex-president during his detention.
"The next step is to bring him to Lima and to offer guarantees of a
fair trial," Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belaunde told CPN
radio.
He said the Chilean Supreme Court had carried out its work with
"responsibility, seriousness and independence."
Fujimori was officially notified of the court decision in Santiago and
his defense lawyer said he had accepted the ruling.
The ex-president said after the decision he had believed he would be
extradited on fewer charges, but said he would prove his innocence.
"According to my calculations there were four (charges for
extradition) ... but I am certain and secure in addressing the actions
of my government in this trial and will emerge with honor," Fujimori
said in a radio interview from the Santiago residence where he has been
under house arrest.
Lima has accused him of responsibility in the 1992 massacre by state
forces of nine students at La Cantuta University, and the 1991 killing
of 15 people in a neighborhood of Lima, blamed on a military death
squad.
The acts were carried out by the army's Colina Group squadron during
the Fujimori government's bloody campaign against the Maoist Shining
Path insurgency.
He also faces a range of corruption charges, including misusing 15
million dollars in public funds.
Peruvian Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo vowed his government would
not politicize the case and said Fujimori should be treated with
"equity and justice."
Anti-corruption prosecutor Carlos Briceno said the trial would take
three to four months but would not say precisely where Fujimori would
be held.
Chile's high court judges had reviewed the Fujimori case after a single
judge ruled in July in Fujimori's favor against the extradition.
Born to Japanese emigrant parents, Fujimori spent five years in Japan
after fleeing Peru in 2000.
He had risen from obscurity as an little-known academic to capture the
presidency in 1990, defeating renowned writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who
was heavily favored in opinion polls.
A divisive figure, his tough crackdown against the Shining Path
insurgents won him loyal supporters but he was criticized for his
authoritarian style.
Japan, which confirmed Fujimori's citizenship, consistently refused
extradition requests from Lima before he flew unannounced to Chile in
2005 to launch another bid for Peru's presidency.
legal battle Friday as Chile's Supreme Court ordered his extradition to
Peru to face trial on corruption and human rights abuses.
The decision, which cannot be appealed, will send Fujimori back to his
home country after seven years in exile to stand trial over alleged
massacres and rampant graft during his 1990-2000 rule.
"We have awarded the extradition," announced judge Alberto Chaigneau,
adding the court's decision was based on the weight of one human rights
charge -- covering two separate massacres -- and six corruption charges.
In Peru, rights groups and relatives of victims of Fujimori's regime
hailed the ruling while the government promised a fair trial.
Human Rights Watch called the decision an unprecedented step forward
for international justice.
"This is the first time that a court has ordered the extradition of a
former head of state to be tried for gross human rights violations in
his home country," the US-based organization said in a statement.
"After years of evading justice, Fujimori will finally have to respond
to the charges and evidence against him in the country he used to run
like a mafia boss," said HRW's Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco,
who was in Santiago for the announcement.
Under house arrest in Santiago since 2005, Fujimori, 69, fled Peru in
2000 to Japan amid a corruption scandal and resigned by fax from a
Tokyo hotel.
Once known as a master strategist, Fujimori appeared to have
miscalculated when he was detained in Chile in 2005 on his way to Peru
hoping to make a political comeback.
Instead of a triumphant return to Peru as a candidate, he will now be
coming back to stand trial on grave charges he backed death squads that
killed civilians, and misused public funds. He faces up to 30 years in
jail for the human rights charges and 10 for the accusations of
corruption.
As Chile prepared to transfer Fujimori later Friday by land and air,
Peru welcomed the ruling, pledging a fair legal process and dignified
treatment for the ex-president during his detention.
"The next step is to bring him to Lima and to offer guarantees of a
fair trial," Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belaunde told CPN
radio.
He said the Chilean Supreme Court had carried out its work with
"responsibility, seriousness and independence."
Fujimori was officially notified of the court decision in Santiago and
his defense lawyer said he had accepted the ruling.
The ex-president said after the decision he had believed he would be
extradited on fewer charges, but said he would prove his innocence.
"According to my calculations there were four (charges for
extradition) ... but I am certain and secure in addressing the actions
of my government in this trial and will emerge with honor," Fujimori
said in a radio interview from the Santiago residence where he has been
under house arrest.
Lima has accused him of responsibility in the 1992 massacre by state
forces of nine students at La Cantuta University, and the 1991 killing
of 15 people in a neighborhood of Lima, blamed on a military death
squad.
The acts were carried out by the army's Colina Group squadron during
the Fujimori government's bloody campaign against the Maoist Shining
Path insurgency.
He also faces a range of corruption charges, including misusing 15
million dollars in public funds.
Peruvian Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo vowed his government would
not politicize the case and said Fujimori should be treated with
"equity and justice."
Anti-corruption prosecutor Carlos Briceno said the trial would take
three to four months but would not say precisely where Fujimori would
be held.
Chile's high court judges had reviewed the Fujimori case after a single
judge ruled in July in Fujimori's favor against the extradition.
Born to Japanese emigrant parents, Fujimori spent five years in Japan
after fleeing Peru in 2000.
He had risen from obscurity as an little-known academic to capture the
presidency in 1990, defeating renowned writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who
was heavily favored in opinion polls.
A divisive figure, his tough crackdown against the Shining Path
insurgents won him loyal supporters but he was criticized for his
authoritarian style.
Japan, which confirmed Fujimori's citizenship, consistently refused
extradition requests from Lima before he flew unannounced to Chile in
2005 to launch another bid for Peru's presidency.
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