Former Peruvian president Fujimori to stand trial again
February 20, 2018
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori will face trial for a 1992 massacre despite being recently pardoned by current President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and released from prison.
The 79-year-old had been serving a 25-year sentence for crimes that included commanding death squads that killed suspected civilian sympathizers of left wing guerrillas before he was pardoned in late December on the grounds of his ill health.
The pardon was roundly criticized by international rights groups as a blow in the struggle against impunity and led to street protests in Peru.
Quid pro quo
Kuczynski's pardon was seen by many as quid pro quo for help from Kenji Fujimori, the former president's lawmaker son. Kenji voted against an impeachment vote for Kuczynski in Congress over alleged corruption.
Two United Nations human rights experts also said the pardon was a "slap in the face" to victims of his brutal rule.
"The presidential pardon granted to Alberto Fujimori on politically motivated grounds undermines the work of the Peruvian judiciary and the international community to achieve justice," UN special rapporteurs Agnes Callamard and Pablo de Greiff said in a statement in December.
Fujimori's attorney, Miguel Perez, said it was not yet clear if the issue of immunity could be addressed again.
Prosecutors are seeking 25 years in prison for the 79-year-old ex-leader in the so-called Pativilca case in which six farmers were kidnapped, tortured and killed by a paramilitary group.
av/aw (AP, Reuters, DPA)