Lima, Sep 25 (IANS) Peruvian President Alan Garcia has promised to act “without hatred, malice or vengeance” during the trial of former head of state Alberto Fujimori, who was extradited to Peru last week from Chile, the Spanish news agency EFE said.
“Without revenge or excitement – I believe that is what the Peruvian people expect from their government – that it does not abuse its position to besmirch or ill-treat the fallen adversary who is accused of multiple crimes,” Garcia said in his first public comments on the extradition.
“I should be the first to take advantage of this situation. My house was attacked and I was deprived of citizenship for nine years. (But) I’m not going to do that,” the president said, recalling his exile during Fujimori’s tenure in 1990-2000.
He also congratulated the Chilean justice system for its move, saying that the country “has shown itself to be a democracy that respects its judicial branch, without pressure, without arrangements under the table, as other feared”.
Now, “as chief of state, it’s my responsibility to ensure compliance with the constitution and the court rulings,” he said, guaranteeing respect for Fujimori “beyond the accusations and crimes attributed to him”.
“We have not put Mr. Fujimori in a cage, as was done in other epochs. We haven’t put prison clothing on Mr. Fujimori, as they did in other epochs. We have not put handcuffs on him because, surrounded by police officers. There’s no reason to think there’s any risk of flight,” he said.
Garcia was alluding to the incidents that took place at the time of the capture of the Shining Path rebel group’s founder, Abimael Guzman in 1992, during the Fujimori regime.
He also said that Fujimori was kept away from the media when he arrived in Lima to prevent a “difficult situation”, adding that he was treated with “every respect and dignity”.
The Peruvian president said that Fujimori’s extradition is an example of democracy “to give lessons to the dictatorship”, adding that it tells all countries in the world “that one cannot distort, or replace the democratic model”.
Sixty-nine-year-old Fujimori arrived in his homeland Saturday, a day after the Chilean Supreme Court approved his extradition on charges of rights abuse and corruption.
Fujimori told Chile’s Canal 13 television channel Friday night that he was innocent.
“I’m returning to Peru with a clear conscience,” he said. “I hope (there is due process in Peru) and if that’s the case, I hope they find me absolutely innocent.”
Fujimori arrived in Chile unexpectedly from Japan on Nov 6, 2005, apparently with hopes of returning to Peru to run in the 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 – Alan Garcia, whose subsequent “exile” was to avoid prosecution on corruption charges – and especially for crushing the Maoist-inspired Shining Path movement.
But Fujimori’s rule was also marked by human rights abuses and the use of public funds to purchase support from other parties and favourable coverage in the media.