International   

Fujimori under house arrest

SANTIAGO (Chile): A Chilean judge ordered former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori back under house arrest on Friday, a day after a prosecutor recommended his extradition to face charges of human rights abuses and corruption in his home country.

The ruling was a response to a request from Peru, which warned that Fujimori is a flight risk because of ``the seriousness of the charges'' against him, according to the press office of Chile's Supreme Court.

Peru wants to try the 68-year-old Fujimori on charges including bribery, misuse of government funds and sanctioning death squad killings during his decade-long rule that ended in 2000.

Fujimori spent five years in exile in Japan after fleeing Peru as his decade-long government collapsed under a corruption scandal. But he flew to Chile on Nov. 6, 2005, as part of an apparent bid to launch a political comeback in neighboring Peru.

Upon arriving in Chile, however, he was placed under house arrest and held for six months. He was freed last year on the condition he not leave Chile.

Judge Urbano Marin's order that Fujimori be once again placed under house arrest was expected to take effect later Friday. The court was notifying Fujimori of the ruling.

On Thursday, a Supreme Court prosecutor issued a report that recommended the former Peruvian leader be extradited to his homeland to face the charges. The nonbinding recommendation must still be ruled on by the judge, a process that could take several months.

But a lawyer representing Peru in Chile warned the report might cause Fujimori to try to flee Chile.

Fujimori has maintained his innocence and denies he is a flight risk.

``I crossed the entire Pacific Ocean to be here,'' he is quoted as saying in Friday's edition of the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio.

``I am tranquil, calm and taking the report with prudence and serenity,'' he said.

Keiko Fujimori, a Peruvian congresswoman and the former president's daughter, said Thursday her father would obey a final ruling.

``I think it's very important to highlight that the prosecutor's opinion is not binding,'' she told a news conference in Lima. ``If my father is extradited, he's going to respect the ruling and he'll come.'' -- AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

G8 pledges to lift Africa out of poverty
Battle of affidavits in Pakistan apex court
Mine blast averted in Colombo
Blair rejects "bribery'' probe
Interceptors could be placed in Turkey: Putin
CIA rendition trial opens
Ready to tackle floods
S. Korean aid for North
Ex-U.N. official convicted of bribery
Fujimori under house arrest
Healing touch from across the border
India comes out with fresh proposal
J8 Kavitha's agenda for G8 summiteers

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu