LIMA (REUTERS) - A Peruvian judge on Wednesday (Oct 3) annulled a presidential pardon granted to former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori late last year and ordered his immediate capture and return to prison.

Fujimori, 80, had been cleared of convictions for human rights abuses by former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on Christmas Eve, three days after Kuczynski narrowly survived an impeachment vote with the help of Fujimori's supporters.

News cameras waited outside the sprawling house in Lima where Fujimori has been living since becoming a free man, less than halfway into a 25-year sentence for commanding death squads that massacred civilians under his 1990-2000 right-wing government.

Fujimori's lawyer and his daughter, opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, said in broadcast comments that Fujimori would appeal the decision.

Kuczynski had cited Fujimori's ailing health for the pardon, saying he did not want a former president to die in prison.

But the pardon has been widely seen as part of a political deal and the family members of the victims of the death squad killings argued it had been granted illegally.

"This re-establishes the right to justice for the family members of the victims," said Carlos Rivera, an attorney for family members of the victims.

Kuczynski, who turned 80 on Wednesday, resigned due to a graft scandal in March and is now under investigation by public prosecutors in connection with Fujimori's pardon.

Alejandro Aguinaga, Fujimori's doctor, said on local broadcaster Canal N that Fujimori was at home but could not move because of a cardiac problem. </s> LIMA: A Peruvian court on Wednesday annulled ex-president Alberto Fujimori's pardon for crimes against humanity and ordered the 80-year-old's immediate arrest, officials said.

The South American country's justice department said in a statement that the Supreme Court had "issued the arrest and detention orders against former president Fujimori so that he may be re-integrated into the prison establishment."

He was pardoned last December on humanitarian grounds, but critics said the move was in exchange for Fujimori's son helping then-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski avoid impeachment.

Fujimori was 12 years into a 25-year jail sentence handed down for ordering two massacres by death squads between 1991 and 1992.

"This decision is inhuman, it's unjust," said his daughter Keiko, leader of the main opposition Popular Force party and seen by many as the heir to Fujimori's political dynasty.

"Today is the saddest day of our lives, it's painful," a tearful Keiko told reporters, adding that she had yet to speak to her father since the court decision.

One of Fujimori's lawyers, Miguel Perez, said on Chile's RPP radio the decision was subject to appeal.

The pardon, issued by Kuczynski before he was himself brought down by a corruption scandal, triggered a wave of protests by human rights organizations and by victims of Fujimori's crackdown.

Fujimori, a Peruvian of Japanese descent, has been living in Lima but has been hospitalized four times since his release last December.

After his arrest Wednesday, he was admitted to a clinic for tests after experiencing a drop in blood pressure and an accelerated heart beat, his doctor, Alejandro Aguinaga, told reporters.

Victims of Fujimori's crackdown had petitioned the Inter-American Court to demand a judicial review of the process that led to the pardon.

Carlos Rivera, a lawyer for the victims, said the decision to annul the pardon was justified.

"Kuczynski's pardon to Alberto Fujimori has no legal value and therefore he has to return to prison for irregularities in the process," he said.

Kuczynski had justified the pardon on humanitarian grounds, given Fujimori's well-documented ill-health. But the scandal-tainted president had only days earlier survived an impeachment vote thanks to the abstention of a group of lawmakers led by Fujimori's son Kenji.

This lead critics to say the pardon was obviously a quid-pro-quo, the price Kuczynski paid for what proved to be a temporary political survival.

"International standards in the humanitarian pardon were not met," Rivera said.

Alejandro Aguinaga, Fujimori's doctor, expressed shock at the news. "We see that in Peru nothing is respected. The pardon of president Fujimori was a constitutional action," Aguinaga told Radio RPP.

Fujimori has had a number of operations as part of a long-running battle with tongue cancer. His most recent hospitalization was in August, for an irregular heartbeat.

He has been working on a memoir about his decade in power (1990-2000), a period marked by corruption but also by a fight against guerrillas and terrorism.

"I have reached 80 bearing the marks of the years, with all the shocks of political life, the enormous satisfactions and the profound regrets," he wrote in a message to AFP around his birthday in July.

"In the few years I have left," Fujimori explained in his handwritten text, "I will dedicate myself to three objectives: bringing my family together, improving my health to the extent possible, and striking a serene and balanced equilibrium in my life."

However, Fujimori has been unable to reconcile his daughter Keiko, 43, with her younger brother Kenji, who leads a rival faction of her party, to end a political schism which could see the two face off in the 2021 presidential elections.

The charge of crimes against humanity stemmed in part from the killings or disappearances of scores of civilians -- allegedly by a shadowy squad of military officers -- during Peru's bloody struggle against Maoist rebels.

The ex-ruler is revered and despised in equal measure in Peru. Admirers laud him for dragging the country's economy into the modern era and defeating the Shining Path guerrilla movement. </s> Disgraced former Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who resigned last week in the face of impending impeachment, has been banned from leaving the country while the corruption investigation against him continues.

Judge Juan Carlos Sanchez, a member of the Specialized System for Crimes of Corruption, approved the 18-month international travel ban to allow a probe into PPK’s alleged links with Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to proceed.

The request for the ban, made by the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office, was announced on Saturday after a session held at the Third Preparatory Investigation Court and chaired by Sanchez.

“The legal argument is well founded to impede Citizen Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from exiting the country,” the order said.

The ex-president’s lawyer, Cesar Nakazaki, said Kuczynski would abide by the order and cooperate with the investigation.

At the same time, three properties belonging to the former president in the districts of San Isidro and Cieneguilla in Lima were searched as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of money laundering.

Both measures were supported by prosecutor Hamilton Castro, who is investigating transfers of more than US$1.4 million from Odebrecht to the Westfield company, owned by Kuczynski between 2005 and 2007.

On March 21, Kuczynski announced his resignation after the broadcast of several videos in which his allies were seen buying Congressional votes to avoid an impeachment motion against him.

Peru’s Congress accepted the resignation on Friday and swore in former Vice-President Martin Vizcarra as the new head of state. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Alberto Fujimori (pictured in March 2018) was pardoned less than a year ago

A court in Peru has reversed a pardon granted to the country's ex-president, Alberto Fujimori.

Fujimori was pardoned in December on health grounds, nine years after being found guilty of having links to a death squad and two massacres.

But a court ordered him back to jail after a victims' group won an appeal against the decision, made by then-president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

Fujimori, who led Peru in the 1990s, will fight the ruling, his lawyer said.

His daughter Keiko, who leads the main opposition Popular Force party, told reporters the decision was "inhuman" and "unjust".

Most Peruvians had assumed Fujimori, now 80, would be in prison for the rest of his life after being sentenced to 25 years in 2009, having been convicted of ordering the killings of 25 people by a government-backed death squad during Peru's internal conflict.

But in December 2017, he was taken from prison to a hospital in the capital, Lima, because of health concerns; he was suffering from low blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythm.

Mr Kuczynski, who resigned in March over a vote-buying scandal, gave him a pardon the same month, prompting protests in Lima - even as Fujimori's supporters celebrated outside the city hospital where he was being treated.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Supporters gathered outside his home after the judge handed down his decision

The pardon was widely seen as part of a political deal. Mr Kuczynski had narrowly avoided impeachment, with the support of Fujimori's supporters, three days earlier.

Carlos Rivera, who is representing victims' family members, said the decision to reverse the pardon "re-establishes the right to justice for the family members of the victims".

Fujimori is admired by many in Peru for ruthlessly crushing Maoist rebels in the 1990s, ending a conflict that cost tens of thousands of lives.

But his critics say he is a corrupt dictator who was rightfully jailed for ordering the killings of innocent peasants. </s> A Peruvian judge on Saturday barred former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from leaving the country for 18 months.

The ruling by Judge Juan Carlos Sanchez came while police were raiding two of Kuczynski's homes, looking for evidence that could tie him to a massive corruption scheme.

Kuczynski, 79, resigned on Wednesday just hours before a parliamentary impeachment vote amid growing questions surrounding massive payments to his consulting firm a decade ago when he was finance minister.

Watch video 02:16 Share Protests erupt in Peru Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2pvnc Protests erupt in Peru after Kuczynski pardons Fujimori

Anti-corruption prosecutor Hamilton Castro told the court there was a long history in Peru that justified restricting Kuczynski's movements.

"Peru since the 19th century has watched the sad show as presidents and ex-presidents flee the country and justice," he said, in asking the court to bar Kuczynski from leaving the country. "This is the historical behavior that we seekers of justice have to take into account."

Kuczynski was not present in the courtroom Saturday as his lawyer promised his client would fully cooperate with the probe and would abide by the prosecutor's request to stay in the country.

Sanchez agreed with the prosecutor's request in issuing his order.

"The legal argument is well founded to impede Citizen Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from exiting the country," he said.

Massive corruption scandal

Former Peruvian President Kuczynski waves as he leaves office after announcing his resignation on Wednesday

Prosecutors are investigating payments of more than $780,000 made to Kuczynski's consulting firm from the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Given that some of the payments were made at the same time Kuczynski was a government minister there are suspicions that the money was given in return for political favors.

Kuczynski, a former Wall Street investor, has denied any wrongdoing. He said the Westfield Capital consulting firm was being managed by his business partner at the time and that he paid taxes on all earnings.

But the corruption scandal appears bigger than Kuczynski. Odebrecht has admitted to paying a staggering $800 million in bribes to an array of officials across Latin America, including $29 million in Peru.

Kuczynski is the fourth former Peruvian president to be investigated for taking bribes from Odebrecht. One is currently in jail but another, Alejandro Toledo, has refused to return to Peru from the US to face charges. He is suspected of receiving as much $20 million in bribes from Odebrecht during his presidency.

Martin Vizcarra, the former vice-president, is sworn-in as president in Lima on Friday

Kuczynski was a finance minister in the Toledo government from 2001 – 2006. He had denied all links to the construction giant until the firm revealed it issued the bribes in exchange for contracts in December.

On Friday, Martin Vizcarra, Kuczynski's vice president, was sworn in as Peru's new president.

bik/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)

DW editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> A Peruvian court on Wednesday annulled ex-president Alberto Fujimori's pardon for crimes against humanity and ordered the 80-year-old's immediate arrest, officials said.

The South American country's justice department said in a statement that the Supreme Court had "issued the arrest and detention orders against former president Fujimori so that he may be re-integrated into the prison establishment."

Fujimori was pardoned by presidential decree last December. He was 12 years into a 25-year jail sentence handed down to him over his ordering of two massacres by death squads between 1991 and 1992.

The pardon, issued by then-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski before he was himself brought down by a corruption scandal, triggered a wave of protests by human rights organizations and by victims of Fujimori's crackdown.

Fujimori, a Peruvian of Japanese descent, has been living in Lima but has been hospitalized four times since his release last December.

Victims of Fujimori's crackdown had petitioned the Inter-American Court to demand a judicial review of the process that led to the pardon.

Carlos Rivera, a lawyer for the victims, said the decision to annul the pardon was justified.

"Kuczynski's pardon to Alberto Fujimori has no legal value and therefore he has to return to prison for irregularities in the process," he said.

Kuczynski had justified the pardon on humanitarian grounds, given Fujimori's well-documented ill-health.

"International standards in the humanitarian pardon were not met," Rivera said.

Alejandro Aguinaga, Fujimori's doctor, expressed shock at the news. "We see that in Peru nothing is respected. The pardon of president Fujimori was a constitutional action," Aguinaga told Chilean radio RPP.

Fujimori has had a number of operations as part of a long-running battle with tongue cancer. His most recent hospitalization was in August, for an irregular heartbeat.

He has been working on a memoir about his decade in power (1990-2000), a period marked by corruption but also by a fight against guerrillas and terrorism.

"I have reached 80 bearing the marks of the years, with all the shocks of political life, the enormous satisfactions and the profound regrets," he wrote in a message to AFP around his birthday in July.

"In the few years I have left," Fujimori explained in his handwritten text, "I will dedicate myself to three objectives: bringing my family together, improving my health to the extent possible, and striking a serene and balanced equilibrium in my life."

However, Fujimori has been unable to reconcile his daughter Keiko, 43, who heads the right-wing Popular Force party, with her 39-year-old brother Kenji, who leads a rival faction of the party, to end a political schism which could see the two face off in the 2021 presidential elections.

The charge of crimes against humanity stemmed in part from the killings or disappearances of scores of civilians -- allegedly by a shadowy squad of military officers -- during Peru's bloody struggle against Maoist rebels.

The ex-ruler is revered and despised in equal measure in Peru. Admirers laud him for dragging the country's economy into the modern era and defeating the Shining Path guerrilla movement. </s> Washington: A Peruvian Supreme Court judge has ordered the arrest of former president Alberto Fujimori after overturning a pardon he had received roughly nine months ago on health grounds.

Judge Hugo Nunez accepted a challenge against the pardon that had been filed by families of victims of 1992 death squad massacres directed by Fujimori. The judge ordered Fujimori be located and sent to jail, Peru's judiciary said via Twitter.

Fujimori, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, was sentenced to 25 years in jail in 2009 for commanding the killing of alleged terrorist sympathisers. Last December, former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski approved the 80-year-old's release after doctors said he was suffering from a "progressive, degenerative and incurable" illness and that jail endangered his life. Opposition lawmakers accused him of releasing Fujimori to avoid impeachment, a claim which Kuczynski denied.

Fujimori's defence would consider its options after reviewing the court's decision, lawyer Miguel Perez told local TV Canal N. Meanwhile, Fujimori's doctor and former health minister, Alejandro Aguinaga, said the ex-president was in his home in Lima receiving medical treatment for heart problems. </s> The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on October 4, 2018 10:00 PM

FILE PHOTO: Former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori attends a trial as a witness at the navy base in Callao, Peru March 15, 2018. Picture taken through a window. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo/ File Photo

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori on Thursday appealed to current President Martín Vizcarra and to judges not to return him to prison because his "heart would not cope."

The former president, 80, spoke from a private clinic where he is undergoing treatment for heart disease and under police guard, in a video address aired on Peru's independent Canal N cable television station.

"I want to ask the president of the republic and members of the judiciary one thing only: Please, don't kill me," Fujimori said. "If I return to prison, my heart will not cope. It is too weak to go through the same thing again."

The former strongman also urged the current authorities not to use him as a "political weapon" since he had "no forces to resist."

Fujimori was transported by ambulance to a local clinic on Wednesday after a judge annulled a pardon granted to him last year and ordered his immediate capture and return to prison over human rights abuse allegations.

The ruling by Supreme Court Judge Hugo Nunez marked the latest reversal in fortunes for Fujimori, an agricultural engineer who rose to the presidency on a populist platform in 1990 and a decade later resigned by fax from his parents' homeland of Japan as accusations against him mounted.

Following his extradition to Peru in 2007, Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison for commanding death squads that massacred civilians in a counterinsurgency campaign during his right-wing government. He was later found guilty of corruption.

Former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski granted Fujimori a humanitarian pardon on Christmas Eve, three days after Kuczynski narrowly survived an impeachment vote with the help of Fujimori's supporters in Congress.

Fujimori's attorney Miguel Perez on Wednesday filed an appeal and requested a suspension of the arrest order, on the grounds of his client's failing health. </s> Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Duberli Rodriguez's resignation is the latest in a scandal which has rocked Peru

The president of Peru's Supreme Court has resigned amid a widening corruption scandal that has rocked the country's judicial system.

Duberli Rodriguez's resignation follows the release last week of audiotapes suggesting sentences could be bought and judicial influence paid for.

Orlando Velasquez, the president of the National Council of the Magistrature, has also resigned.

The justice minister, Salvador Heresi, was forced to step down on Saturday.

Mr Heresi was recorded arranging a meeting with a Supreme Court judge, Cesar Hinostroza Pariachi, who seemed to be offering to sell favours. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.

On another of the tapes, which were published by a Peruvian investigative website and TV programme, a judge discussed reducing the sentence or declaring innocent a man accused of raping a young girl.

Mr Rodriguez had come under pressure from Supreme Court colleagues to step down and cede his chair to someone untouched by Peru's corruption problem.

He said in a statement: "Given the institutional crisis that the judicial branch is going through, I present my irrevocable resignation from the post." He said the reasons for his resignation would be explained during an extraordinary session of the court on Thursday.

Peru's former president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, was forced to resign in March after less than two years in office, after it emerged he had undisclosed financial ties to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Mr Kuczynski's predecessor, Alberto Fujimori, resigned in 2000 in the wake of a corruption scandal. He was sentenced in 2009 to 25 years in prison but was freed by Mr Kuczynski by presidential pardon in December 2017.

Mr Kuczynski said he was granting the pardon on humanitarian grounds, because Mr Fujimori was suffering from a degenerative disease, but the act sparked protests on the streets of Peru.

Peru's current president, Martín Vizcarra, is expected to serve out Mr Kuczynski's term until 2021, and has pledged to investigate and tackle corruption in the nation's politics.

Mr Vizcarra appointed a committee of six judges to deliver a judicial reform proposal and called an extraordinary session of parliament for Friday to discuss the scandal.
The Prosecutor's Office of Peru opens a preliminary investigation to determine if there were alleged political benefits – among them the humanitarian pardon granted to former President Alberto Fujimori – offered by former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to avoid being removed from his office during the first impeachment process against him in December 2017. Three months later, in the middle of a similar scenario, Kuczynski resigned, seeing that Congress would no longer favor him.