Lima, Peru – Die-hard supporters and opponents of Peru’s fugitive ex-president, Alberto Fujimori, are clamoring for the same thing after his arrest Monday in neighboring Chile: that he return to Peru as soon as possible.
It’s a risky strategy for both sides because Fujimori, who resigned in a fax after fleeing to Japan in 2000, could wind up in jail for a long time or back in the presidency come April.
Fujimori’s opponents, including current President Alejandro Toledo, want him returned to Peru in handcuffs to begin facing the 21 charges against him that range from bribing political opponents to authorizing paramilitary death squads.
“In two or three months, he’ll be in Piedra Gordas,” Peru’s new maximum-security prison, said Rep. Eduardo Salhuana, who recently stepped down as justice minister. “It’s important that he should pay for his crimes.”
Salhuana dismissed suggestions that once in Peru, Fujimori might win freedom and run for the presidency next year.
“I believe in the justice system,” he said.
Fernando Olivera, another former justice minister under Toledo, pointed out that Fujimori, 67, faces a barrier beyond the criminal charges against him: Peru’s Congress has prohibited him from holding public office until 2011.
“There’s no way his candidacy can go forward,” Olivera said.
But Anel Townsend, a Fujimori critic who also serves in Congress, said she fears that the ex-president is counting on Toledo’s unpopularity – his approval rating hovers around 10 percent – and perhaps compliant judges and electoral officials to clear his path for another run at the presidency.
“Anything can happen,” Townsend said.
Fujimori will face a range of charges if he returns to Lima. He is accused of conspiring with spy master Vladimiro Montesinos to bribe political opponents and to misuse public funds.
The most serious charge he faces is that he sanctioned a paramilitary death squad that massacred 25 people, including an 8-year-old boy. He faces up to 30 years for those charges.
