Lima, Sep 24 (IANS) Former President Alberto Fujimori, who was extradited to Peru for trial on human rights and corruption charges, is being held under tight security at a National Police facility in this capital, the Spanish news agency EFE said.
The 69-year-old Fujimori arrived in his homeland Saturday, a day after the Chilean Supreme Court confirmed his extradition.
The plane carrying Fujimori landed at the Las Palmas air base and he was taken by helicopter and armoured car to the National Police Special Operations Administration, where he will be held temporarily under tight security.
The aircraft landed at Las Palmas, south of Lima, instead of at the Air Police airport on the other side of the capital, where Fujimori’s relatives, thousands of supporters and dozens of journalists had gathered.
The former president’s brother, Congressman Santiago Fujimori, told EFE he did not know the state of his sibling’s health in the wake of reports that the ex-leader fainted on the flight and had to be given oxygen during a stopover.
The former president’s extradition was approved on seven of the 12 counts filed against him, including two charges of rights abuse – for ordering the death-squad murders of 25 people – and five corruption charges.
Fujimori, who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, told Chile’s Canal 13 television channel Friday night that he was innocent of the charges against him.
“I’m returning to Peru with a clear conscience,” Fujimori said. “I hope (there is due process in Peru) and if that’s the case I hope they find me absolutely innocent.”
He also expressed optimism over the fact that the Chilean Supreme Court had reduced the number of charges for which he could be tried in his homeland.
Fujimori arrived in Chile unexpectedly from Japan on Nov 6, 2005, apparently with hopes of returning to Peru to compete in his country’s 2006 presidential election.
Prior to his unheralded arrival in Chile, Fujimori had lived in Japan since resigning the Peruvian presidency in the autumn of 2000 amid a corruption scandal.
Tokyo granted him asylum by virtue of the Japanese citizenship his emigrant parents obtained for him at the time of his birth in Peru.
Fujimori was hailed during the early years of his administration for restoring macroeconomic stability to Peru following the economic mismanagement of his predecessor and especially for crushing a violent Maoist-inspired guerrilla movement.
The former president is expected to be held for two weeks at Diroes facility being guarded by National Penitentiary Service officers and 78 special operations agents, the daily La Republica reported.
After the two-week transition period, Fujimori will be taken to another facility in El Callao that is being prepared to hold him, Justice Minister Maria Zavala said Saturday.