Fujimori returns to face trial in Peru

His extradition sets a legal precedent that could be applied to Bolivia's ex-leader, now living in the US.

from the September 24, 2007 edition

Page 2 of 2

Page 1 | 2

Montesinos has been in prison since 2001 on an array of convictions, including a 20-year sentence for drug trafficking.

As pressure built, Fujimori used his participation in the 2000 Asia-Pacific summit in Brunei to bail on his presidency. He stopped off in Japan, his parents' homeland, and resigned via fax. He stayed for five years. Fujimori secretly left Japan in October 2005, flying to Chile with the idea of then entering Peru.

Investigators here say that Fujimori miscalculated the reaction in Chile, thinking that he would be afforded the same treatment as another former president, Argentina's Carlos Menem, who had sought refuge in Chile. Chile rejected an Argentine extradition request in 2004.

But Mr. Menem was married at the time to a Chilean, the charges against him were purely economic, and Argentina officials only wanted to question him. In the case of Fujimori, the major charge involved human rights, which is a delicate issue in Chile, given the brutal dictatorship of former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet, and it came with reams of supporting information.

Fujimori faces charges in the murder of 15 people in Barrios Altos, an inner-city Lima neighborhood, in 1991 and the killing of 10 people at the La Cantuta college the following year. Fujimori is accused of approving the actions of the paramilitary group, Colina Group, that did the killing. The inter-American court system has already found the Peruvian state culpable in both cases. Peruvian prosecutors would like Fujimori sentenced to 30 years for this case. The corruption charges carry sentences from two to eight years.

"I have waited many years for this day. We can finally imagine that there might be justice for our children," said Raida Condor, whose son, Armando Amaru, was killed in the university slayings.

Fujimori's extradition has immediate resonance in Bolivia, where the government is expected to request the extradition of former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, who has lived in the US since being ousted in October 2003.

Rogelio Mayta, a human rights lawyer in Bolivia, says the Fujimori case "is a significant example for Latin America and will serve as a reference point for us."

Mr. Sánchez de Lozada is accused of unleashing the military on protesters calling for his resignation. More than 60 people were killed. Bolivian authorities have publicly called on the US government to return Sánchez de Lozada, but they are only now filing the legal paperwork.

The other active extradition case in Latin America involves former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega.

1 | Page 2