In a brief statement, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) asked the Peruvian State not to comply with the release order issued on March 28 by the Constitutional Court of that country, ruling in favor of habeas corpus presented by the former president. Peruvian. Fujimori, until now imprisoned for crimes against humanity, was already pardoned, not without controversy, by former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2017, although the pardon measure was revoked in 2018.
His departure from the Barbadillo prison, on the outskirts of Lima, was scheduled for the hours after the Peruvian Constitutional Court published on Monday, March 28, its ruling in favor of habeas corpus presented by former President Alberto Fujimori, which restores the pardon with which he was graced in 2017 by former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
However, Fujimori is still behind bars. Her daughter, Keiko Fujimori, hopes that the definitive release of her father will take place this Thursday, March 31.
“We understand that the resolution of the Constitutional Court is in the courtroom and from the courtroom it has to go to the court and then to the INPE (National Penitentiary Institute). We hope that all these procedures allow my father to leave tomorrow (Thursday) ”, Keiko said upon his release from prison, where he took advantage of the visiting day to see his father.
In parallel, this Wednesday afternoon the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) issued a statement to the Peruvian State asking it to “refrain” from releasing the former president. At least until the supranational court rules on the request for provisional measures presented by the relatives of the victims of the former president.
#THE LAST The @CorteIDH pronounces on pardoning Fujimori and requires the Peruvian State to “refrain from executing” the release order, until it decides on the provisional measures requested by the representatives of the victims of Cantuta and Barrios Altos pic.twitter.com/A5jP1UHjBO
– Dania Coz (@daniacoz) March 30, 2022
“Require the State of Peru, in order to guarantee the right of access to justice for the victims of the cases of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta, to refrain from executing the order of the Constitutional Court of Peru ordering the release of Alberto Fujimori, until such time this international court can decide on the request for provisional measures,” reads the statement.
The IACHR’s notification was communicated to the State and the victims’ representatives and will later be notified to the Constitutional Court and the Judiciary, according to sources from the Peruvian newspaper ‘El Comercio’.
The decisions of the supranational Court are binding for Peru, so pending the official pronouncement of the Justice of that country, Fujimori’s release from prison could be paralyzed.
According to the local media ‘Convoca’, the supranational prosecutor, Carlos Reaño, announced that they will comply with the IACHR’s pronouncement, which would temporarily suspend the release procedure. This information, however, has not been published in other media so far.
On Monday, March 28, while the Peruvian Congress was debating the vacancy motion presented by the opposition against President Pedro Castillo, the Constitutional Court made public the ruling in which, by a majority of three votes, the humanitarian pardon was restored. that former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski granted to Fujimori in 2017.
The former president was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the cases of the massacres in Barrios Altos and La Cantuta (which left 25 dead) and the kidnappings of businessman Samuel Dyer and journalist Gustavo Gorriti. Fujimori was charged with crimes of qualified homicide, aggravated kidnapping and serious injuries.
The IACHR, which is now requesting that the State not release Fujimori for the time being, also condemned Peru in 2001 for the Barrios Altos case and in 2006 for the La Cantuta case, and demanded that the State punish the perpetrators of these atrocities. .
Following the decision of the Peruvian High Court, the Justice ordered that Fujimori could not leave the country for 18 months and that he should attend court summons periodically for the Pativilca case, a massacre of six people that took place in 1992 and for which is still followed.
This could also remain up in the air if the Peruvian State finally assumes the position of the IACHR and paralyzes the release of the former president.
Fujimori’s convictions
The former Peruvian president, who led the Andean country from July 28, 1990 to November 21, 2000, received five convictions from the country’s Justice since he was extradited by the Chilean Government in 2007 after his surprise arrival to the Southern Cone country from Japan, where he fled after uncovering corruption scandals.
Among Fujimori’s convictions are the usurpation of functions, whose ruling was given in December 2007 when the court determined that the former president ordered a soldier to impersonate a prosecutor to raid the home of the wife of his then presidential adviser, Vladimiro Montesinos .
In April 2009, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for kidnapping and murder with treachery for the massacres of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta and the kidnapping of businessman Samuel Dyer and journalist Gustavo Gorriti. These massacres are a symbol of the human rights violations perpetrated during his government for the kidnapping and murder of civilians by Grupo Colina, a paramilitary detachment belonging to the Peruvian Armed Forces.
Also in 2009, Fujimori was sentenced to 7 and a half years in prison for embezzlement of public funds and document fraud for handing over 15 million dollars from public coffers to his former adviser Montesinos and 6 more years for crimes against the public administration, espionage and bribery.
The former president also received a sentence of 6 years in prison for violating the Secret of Communications and, in 2015, the Justice sentenced him to 8 years in prison for the diversion of funds from the Armed Forces and the Intelligence services to finance a group of newspapers and guarantee his re-election in 1995.
Despite all the sentences against him, the delicate state of health of Fujimori, 83, has prevented him from complying with the multiple sentences imposed by the courts. In fact, when Pedro Pablo Kuczynski processed the pardon against the former president, he did so citing humanitarian reasons, since the former president presented a “progressive, degenerative and incurable disease.”
The Constitutional Court rescued this thesis to recover the grace measure, which was executed in 2017 but was revoked eight months later. However, the IACHR considers that it is necessary to guarantee the rights of the victims of the former Peruvian leader before releasing him.
According to a survey published by the Peruvian newspaper ‘La República’, at this time 52% of Peruvians are against Fujimori’s pardon while 43% are in favor of granting him this measure of grace.
With information from EFE and local media
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