Fujimori Extradited To Peru To Stand Trial

Former Peruvian President Faces Charges Of Corruption, Sanctioning Death Squads

(AP)  Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was flying to his home country under police custody Saturday, a day after the Chilean Supreme Court ordered his extradition on human rights and corruption charges.

A Peruvian police airplane sent to carry the 69-year-old former ruler departed just before 9:00 a.m. (1300 GMT) from the Santiago airport bound for the Peruvian capital of Lima.

Earlier, a white and blue Chilean police helicopter flew Fujimori to the airport from the suburban residence where he was under house arrest for months while awaiting the ruling on his extradition.

Chilean police officers transferred Fujimori to their Peruvian counterparts inside a vehicle on the airport tarmac. Before boarding, he was examined by a Peruvian doctor, officials said.

Peru wants to try Fujimori on corruption and human rights charges, including sanctioning the death-squad killings of 25 people.

Fujimori, who calls the charges politically motivated, said on the eve of his departure that while his government made mistakes, his conscience is clear.

"This does not mean that I've been tried, much less convicted. ... I hope that in Peru there exists the due process to clarify the accusations against me," he told the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio.

He noted that while the Chilean Supreme Court authorized his extradition, it significantly reduced the charges for which he can be tried in Peru. According to the extradition treaty between the two countries, he can only be tried on the charges for which the extradition was approved.

Fujimori also suggested that he may seek to return to politics, saying, "I still have a majority support from a very popular political current.

"I assure you that there will be a political heir if I am not longer around," he added. "There will Fujimorismo for a long time. I guarantee that there will be some Fujimori in the next presidential race."

Fujimori was highly popular in the early years of his administration, largely crushing a violent guerrilla movement, overseeing a flourishing economy and building schools and health clinics in rural areas that benefited the poor. But an increasing drift toward authoritarianism and evidence of corruption turned many Peruvians against him.

After his 10-year government collapsed amid a corruption scandal in 2000, Fujimori spent five years in exile in Japan, the homeland of his parents, where he was protected from extradition by his double nationality.

He stunned followers and foes alike when he landed in a small plane in Chile in November 2005 and revealed his ambition to run for president in the 2006 elections, even though Peru's Congress had banned him from seeking public office until 2011.

He retains a large following in Peru, where his daughter Keiko was elected last year to Congress with 600,000 votes - by far the most of any legislator.

The human rights cases against Fujimori accepted by the Chilean court include the 1993 death-squad slayings of nine students and a professor at La Cantuta University, as well as the 1991 killings of 15 people in Barrios Altos, a working-class neighborhood of Lima.

The corruption charges involve alleged payoffs to lawmakers and news media, illegal phone tapping and misuse of $15 million in government funds.

Peruvian prosecutors are seeking 30 years in prison for Fujimori for each human rights charge and the corruption charges carry 10-year sentences. But prison terms run concurrently under Peruvian law.

By Associated Press Writer Eduardo Gallardo

[myopinion05]

Interesting news story. So Fujimori gets extradited for 25 murders... whatever happened to Pinochet getting extradited? I''m not saying that Fujimori is better than Pinochet, but if we''re talking about violations to human rights, well, what right does the Chilean government have to extradite Fujimori if they are not extraditing Pinochet? I think they should both be extradited and tried.

[myopinion05]

So Fujimori gets extradited for 25 murders, well why did Pinochet never get extradited for the violations to human rights that he committed? It''s interesting that the Chilean government is so willing and ready when it comes to justice on other governments but at the time that the whole Pinochet scandal was in place, they were unwilling to. Very interesting

[sgtrds]

Isn''t there someplace we can extradite Bush and Cheney to for murder? Like say Iraq?

[neobrian-2009]

The city of Lima dumps truckloads of garbage into the Pacific Ocean each day. They should concentrate their energy on problems that can be solved now.Going back to the Fujimori era will not solve anything. It will only further divide people who are facing many diverse problems.

[wogerwabbit]

When Bush and Cheney, and the rest of the wrecking crew are indicted for war crimes, then we will see real justice in this world (not that this Fujimori dude is an angel, either). This BS is just another OJ moment to divert our attention from the real dangers around us. About as laugahable as Saddam getting hanged for war crimes before we could empty his brain of where he got all his WMD''s.

There''s too much irony in the world these days.

[zykracosmos]

Fujimori was a smart leader who genuinely served all Peruvians, not just the rich elite in Lima. He was the first leader to really invest in schools and hospitals in the poorer regions of the Andes. When one criticizes strong-arm tactics, it must be realized that he was at war with a ruthless guerilla movement, the Shining Path, who slaughtered citizens, murdered tourists, bombed buildings and power stations with regularity, and used cocaine production to finance their efforts. Fujimori''s success inflated his ego and led to personal excesses. I%u2019m sure he had no direct role in sending a death squad to attack students, but he may have been guilty of allowing a loose reign over security forces, a national guard-type unit that was trained to engage in extraordinary measures to fight terrorists in both urban and rural regions. His efforts eventually prevailed. The leader of the Shining Path was dressed in zebra-striped jail clothing and paraded through Lima in a cage, a humiliating show of dominance over remaining terrorists. I remember the fear of being accosted by Shining Path terrorists while hiking on the Inca Trail, and feeling lucky that they only stole our backpacks and food, instead of killing us as they did some German tourists. Peruvians would best be served to let this case go, as the human rights issues being trumpeted do not reflect the circumstances that existed when Fujimori established control over a country engulfed in chaos.