Peru’s former president Fujimori served a long prison sentence for human rights violations. During his reign, death squads killed numerous government opponents. Now he is free again – for humanitarian reasons.
Following a ruling by the Peruvian Constitutional Court, ex-President Alberto Fujimori, who was convicted of serious human rights violations, has been released from prison.
The 85-year-old left the Barbadillo prison near the capital Lima on Wednesday (local time), as seen on television. He was met at the entrance to the detention center by his children Keiko and Kenji Fujimori and eventually drove away in a gray car.
According to media reports, he initially wanted to live with his daughter, the leader of the right-wing Fuerza Popular party.
Constitutional Court had confirmed pardon
The day before, the Constitutional Court had confirmed a pardon of the former head of state on humanitarian grounds in 2017. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights previously unsuccessfully called on the Peruvian authorities not to implement the Constitutional Court’s decision for the time being and to keep Fujimori in custody.
However, the prison administration soon announced that it would follow the verdict and release Fujimori.
25-year prison sentence for serious Human rights violations
Fujimori was serving a 25-year prison sentence for serious human rights violations. During his term in office from 1990 to 2000, he had the security forces take rigorous action against left-wing and allegedly subversive forces, and parliament was disempowered.
At that time, the state saw itself threatened by the Maoist terrorist organization Shining Path. In addition, tens of thousands of indigenous women were forcibly sterilized in order to reduce the number of children they had. They were seen as an obstacle to development.
Anne Herrberg, ARD Rio de Janeiro, tagesschau, December 7th, 2023 5:19 a.m