Chilean court votes to free Peruvian ex-leader on bail
Santiago, Chile – A Chilean Supreme Court panel voted to free former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori on bail Thursday while he fights extradition on corruption and human-rights charges.
The justices voted 4-1 to release him, but they prohibited him from leaving Chile, said the president of the court panel, Enrique Curi.
Fujimori arrived in Chile in November from Tokyo, saying he was ending five years of exile in Japan in order to run in Peru’s presidential elections. But he was arrested upon arrival after the Peruvian government requested his extradition.
Curi said the bail amount would be determined by the judge handling the extradition trial, and Fujimori could be freed later Thursday.
Fujimori failed in two previous attempts to gain freedom on bail after the court said he was “a danger to society.” Lawyers for the Peruvian government argued that the 67-year-old former president would try to flee the country if freed.
Peru so far has filed 12 formal charges against Fujimori, including sanctioning a paramilitary death squad accused of murdering 25 people, illegal phone tapping, diverting public funds to the intelligence service, bribing legislators and transferring $15 million to his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.
Fujimori has called the charges against him an effort to block his political comeback.
WASHINGTON
Beauprez loses bid to boost fire funding
A proposal by Rep. Bob Beauprez to divert federal funds for the arts to wildfire management appeared headed for defeat Thursday.
The Colorado Republican’s measure – an amendment to an appropriations bill – would have taken $30 million from the National Endowment for the Arts and put it in the Wildland Fire Management Budget of the U.S. Forest Service.
It was defeated on a voice vote on the House floor.
FRANKFORT, Ky.
Governor’s pardons stand, high court says
The Kentucky Supreme Court on Thursday invalidated a string of indictments charging members of Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s administration with rewarding political supporters with state jobs, leaving only the misdemeanor counts against Fletcher himself.
Fletcher had pardoned his entire administration – other than himself – for any charges that could result from a probe into allegations of hiring misconduct.
The state’s high court said Thursday that Fletcher had the authority to issue the blanket pardon.
SALT LAKE CITY
Monument reopens after plague treated
A campground at Natural Bridges National Monument reopened Thursday after it was closed for three weeks because bubonic plague had been detected in field mice and chipmunks.
The area was doused with insecticides to kill fleas that carry the plague, said Corky Hays, park superintendent. Humans usually contract bubonic plague after being bitten by fleas that have bitten infected rodents.
Plague also has been found this spring in rodent populations at Mesa Verde National Park and Colorado National Monument.
JAKARTA, Indonesia
Leader: Ex-dictator in serious condition
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after visiting ailing ex-dictator Suharto in the hospital early today that he was in serious condition.
Suharto, who was ousted after 32 years in power in 1998 amid nationwide riots, underwent colon surgery earlier this month to stop intestinal bleeding.
His doctors said tests Thursday revealed two blockages in his brain but did not elaborate.
SHANGHAI, China
21 dead, 27 fishermen missing after typhoon
A powerful typhoon pummeled southern China on Thursday, killing at least 21 people and leaving 27 Vietnamese fishermen missing after their boats sank in Chinese waters.
Chanchu, which was downgraded to a tropical storm, has killed more than 60 in Asia.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency said today that 13 people died in flooding and landslides in the southeastern province of Fujian. Eight died in neighboring Guangdong province.
