Fujimori: Death-squad trial

2007-09-22 08:19

Santiago - Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori lost a long legal battle on Friday as Chile's Supreme Court ordered his extradition to Peru to face trial on corruption and human rights abuses.

The decision 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 to 2000 rule.

In Peru, rights groups and relatives of victims of Fujimori's regime hailed the ruling while the government promised a fair trial.

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.

Master strategist

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 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.

Fujimori was officially notified of the court decision in Santiago and his defence 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 honour," Fujimori said.

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 Lima.

Bloody campaign

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 in public funds.

Peruvian Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo vowed his government would not politicise the case and said Fujimori should be treated with "equity and justice."

Chile's high court judges had reviewed the Fujimori case after a single judge ruled in July in Fujimori's favour 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 favoured in opinion polls.

A divisive figure, his crackdown against the Shining Path insurgents won him supporters but he was criticised 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. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA