MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Visibly ill Fujimori released from Barbadillo prison

Fujimori, 85, is said to be suffering from tongue cancer

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) was released from the Barbadillo prison in Lima Wednesday after long hours of red tape entanglements followed Tuesday's decision by the Constitutional Court to uphold the pardon he had been granted by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski back in 2017 which was later overturned by judiciary measures. Fujimori, 85, was serving a 25-year prison sentence for crimes against humanity.

Peru thus took a significant turn after local magistrates ignored a request against Fujimori's release from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), citing its lack of jurisdiction. The IACHR had claimed earlier this week that the relatives of the victims of the La Cantuta and Barrios Altos massacres were entitled to justice. The Peruvian government issued a statement ratifying its commitment to the American Convention on Human Rights and mentioning that it complied with the Constitutional Court's ruling.

Upon his release, a visibly ill Fujimori suffering from tongue cancer was greeted by his daughter Keiko and his son Kenji as supporters celebrated outside. The two-time presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori drove through paparazzi on her way with her brother to Barbadillo, where former Presidents Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo are also housed.

”We consider that Peru is in contempt of the Court's order. Now what we expect is that the legal-political mechanisms are activated, that the Court reports to the Permanent Council (of the OAS),” said the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL).

Fujimori is well remembered for the fight during his government against Maoist guerrillas Shining Path. But in November 2000, amid growing opposition after 10 years in office, he fled to his ancestral Japan from where he sent his resignation.

In addition to the two massacres, Fujimori is facing criminal charges for the forced sterilizations of some 350,000 women and 25,000 men of indigenous ethnicity.

See also: Fujimori's release from jail imminent