MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru: IACHR steps in to keep Fujimori in jail

Will Fujimori be released?

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) gave the Peruvian Government one week to explain the situation of former President Alberto Fujimori, who might be released from jail following a Constitutional Court ruling earlier this week, it was reported in Lima.

“The State is requested that, no later than December 6, 2023, it submit a report in which it presents its observations to the aforementioned brief of the representatives, taking into account what was ordered by this Court in the resolution of April 7, 2023,” said the IACHR in a document signed by its secretary, Pablo Saavedra.

Fujimori has been serving a 25-year prison sentence since 2007 for crimes against humanity, which was briefly interrupted between 2017 and 2018 due to a presidential pardon from Pedro Pablo Kuczynski which was eventually revoked.

The Constitutional Court ordered in 2022 to reinstate the pardon, but on April 7 this year the IACHR Court, upholding actions brought by relatives of victims, ordered the Peruvian State not to comply with that ruling. Peru “must refrain from implementing the sentence issued by the Constitutional Court of Peru on March 17, 2022, which restores the effects of the pardon 'for humanitarian reasons' granted to Alberto Fujimori on December 24, 2017,” the IACHR Court said at the time.

The Justice Ministry said President Dina Boluarte would abide by the court's decisions.

Following the latest Constitutional Court ruling, the lower court at Ica handling a habeas corpus request must now decide whether to grant Fujimori his freedom or stick to the IACHR criterion.

Fuerza Popular, the party of the former president's daughter, Keijo Fujimori, asked that “the release” of its “historic leader” be ordered, considering that the Constitutional Court has declared “a habeas corpus” that “reestablishes” the “validity of the humanitarian pardon”.

“Regarding the arbitrary resolution of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, we are categorical in pointing out that this cannot replace what is established by our Constitution and by the Constitutional Court,” the party said in a statement.