Peruvian Supreme Court rules 6-year prison for Fujimori

Source: Xinhua | 04-16-2008 13:08

LIMA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The Peruvian Supreme Court Tuesday made its final ruling on ex-Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori's role in instigating the illegal raid on the house of Trinidad Becerra, the wife of a former presidential aide.

The video grab image taken on Dec. 11, 2007 shows former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori waiting to be  sentenced in Lima, capital of Peru. A Peruvian court  sentenced Alberto Fujimori to six years in prison for  abuse of power and ordered him to pay a fine of 400,000  new soles (around 132,000 U.S. dollars) to the state.  (Xinhua File Photo)

The court upheld the December ruling in which Fujimori was given a six-year jail sentence.

The former president was convicted of organizing and leading the illegal raid on the house of Becerra, the wife of Vladimiro Montesinos, a presidential aide, in 2000. It was allegedly an attempt to capture Montesinos, who had become a fugitive following the release of a video of him bribing an opposition lawmaker.

The former president not only ordered the raid, but also led an operation to erase evidence, according to the prosecutor.

In the trial, evidence was presented showing Fujimori ordering a military officer to pose as a prosecutor to gain access to the house in November 2000.

Fujimori, 69, fled to Japan in 2000 after his government collapsed amid corruption scandals. The son of Japanese parents, he claimed Japanese citizenship on reaching the country and the Japanese government has since ignored repeated extradition requests from Peru.

The former president arrived unexpectedly in Chile in November 2005 by a private flight from Japan. He was extradited to Peru from Chile in September 2007 and is now being held in a temporary jail on the outskirts of the Peruvian capital.

He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the 10 charges of corruption and two of human rights abuses.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei