Peru: Fujimori to be Tried on Nov. 26th | Fujimori |
ImpunityWatch:
22 October 2007
Peru: Fujimori to be Tried on Nov. 26th Admist Concerns About
Fairness,
Legality of Trial
By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America
Ex-President Alberto Fujimori's trial for kidnapping and murder will
begin on November 26th, said Supreme Court President Fransisco
Tabara.
Fujimori, 69, has been charged with several crimes including bribery,
wiretapping, and misusing public funds. He has also been charged
with
human rights violations for kidnapping, and murder.
A Supreme Court panel of three judges will decide whether Fujimori
illegally used $15 million of state money to pay his head of
intelligence to quit, authorized bribes to congressmen, conducted
illegal phone taps, and secretly bought a TV station for political
propaganda purposes.
The most serious charge is that Fujimori authorized his head of
intelligence, Vladimiro Montesinos, to organize the Colina Group, a
military unit dedicated to assassinating rebel collaborators. The
Colina group killed a group of civilians mistakently believed to be
rebel supporters at a barbeque in Barrios Altos.
One of the former members of the Colina Group, Isaac Pauiyauri, said
that their commander told them Fujimori knew about and approved of
the
hit, testifying that "Fujimori and Montesinos sent congratulations
for
what we did..." Fujimori argues that he didn't know that the unit
existed and didn't fully control the military at the time.
In July of 1992, the Colina Group also kidnapped nine students and a
university professor. Their burned bodies were found on a hillside
east
of Lima a year later.
Fujimori fled to Japan in 2000 following a corruption scandal, and
Peruvian authorities attempted to have him extradited. He could not
be
released under Japanese law because he holds dual citizenship.
The former president attempted to return to Peru via Mexico and Chile
to
launch a political comeback, but was captured and extradited to Peru
in
September. Montesinos has since been convicted of more than a dozen
charges including corruption to arms smuggling, according to the
Associated Press.
Fujimori remains a divisive figure in Peru. His opponents look to
his
alleged human rights abuses, corruption, and intimidation techniques.
His supporters argue that he ended the four-digit inflation that he
inherited as president, restored confidence to the economy, and wiped
out the Maoist Shining Path insurgency.
There are concerns about the legality of Fujimori's trial for both
supporters and detractors.
"He is in serious difficulty," said Jose Ugaz, a former special state
attorney in the case. "There exists sufficient evidence to convict
Fujimori for participation in these crimes."
Fujimori supporters worry that he is being persecuted for political
reasons.
"He is not going to find a fair trial here. It's not going to
happen,"
said Rolando Sousa, Fujimori's former defense attorney and
congressman.
Omar Chehade, the attorney who directed Fujimori's extradition, said
that Fujimori will be tried by applying the legal theory developed
for
Nazi war criminals. The theory is that in a state criminal
organization, top officials are as guilty as the ones who pull the
triggers. By this logic, Fujimori is guilty because he was in a
position to stop the death squad, Chehade said.
"This is an undemocratic theory that violates the due process of the
accused and the presumption of innocence," said Javier Valle Riestra,
a
constitutional expert and critic of Fujimori.
"Where is the proof of his crimes?" he said. "It doesn't exist, so
they're going to substitute this German theory, which is not in the
Constitution or the penal code, and they're going to condemn him."
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