Former Peruvian President Alberto
Fujimori listens to his sentence during his trial at the Special Police
Headquarters in Lima April 7, 2009. Fujimori was sentenced to 25
years in prison on Tuesday after being convicted of "crimes against
humanity". (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
LIMA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A special penal court on Tuesday sentenced former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori to 25 years in prison for "crimes against humanity" during his 1990-2000 rule.
Fujimori, 70, was found guilty of ordering two massacres of 25 people and the kidnapping and torture of journalist Gustavo Gorritti and businessman Samuel Dyer.
Fujimori listened to the sentence in calm and his defense team said he would appeal.
During the trial, the court examined cases including the killing of 15 people, one minor included, in Lima's suburb in November 1991, the kidnapping and killing of nine college students and their professors in June 1992 and the kidnapping and torture of Gorritti and Dyer on April 5, 1992.
Meanwhile, the paramilitary group Colina controlled by Fujimori is found responsible for the disappearance of 50 people.
Fujimori had also commanded an "anti-subversion strategy" whichincluded "systemic and selective practices of forced disappearances and arbitrary executions (killings)," said the court.
On several occasions, Fujimori insisted he is innocent and that he is being tried for political reasons.
Fujimori, the first elected Latin American president tried in his own country for human rights violations, is already serving a sentence of six years for abuse of power in ordering a raid on the house of the wife of his former advisor Vladimiro Montesino in October 2000.
Outside the court, Fujimori's followers and opposers had small clashes. About 10,000 policemen have been deployed since Monday to ensure security.
Fujimori's daughter Keiko Fujimori said on Tuesday that despite the sentence against his father, which was "an aberration, full of hatred and revenge," the "Fujimorism will continue growing."
A pro-Fujimori legislator said the former president would appeal the sentence in international courts.
"We will go to the international courts -- not necessarily to the Inter American court of Human rights (CIDDHH) but to the European Tribunal of Human Rights. We are analyzing that possibility," said Rolando Souza, a member of the Party Alliance for the Future.
According to Souza, the trial, which began on December 2007 "was not impartial nor objective."
"Fujimori will not receive justice in this country ... I think that is impossible as the court was formed in 2000, during Toledo's rule," Souza said, referring to Former President Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006) who was Fujimori's contender in the general elections in 2000.
Meanwhile, Fujimori's lawyer Cesar Nakasaki said that the sentence was wrong and that he would request a nullity at the second and last petition before the Supreme Court of Justice.
Peru's Prime Minister Yehude Simon Tuesday applauded the sentence. "It shows that Peru's courts are completely autonomous and that they do not let themselves be swayed" by any outside forces, and "they have acted as they should," he said.
The Special Penal Court in charge of the trial had acted "immaculately," said the prime minister. Simon had been jailed for several years during Fujimori's rule for being a member of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, a group intended to overthrow the former president.
"During a trial that lasted for more than a year, the judges remained calm" and made decisions in keeping with their consciences, he said, adding that the ruling would have an impact on jurisprudence across Latin America and the world.
"Whatever ruling, even if it had been in favor of Fujimori, the government would have accepted it," Simon said. "That is how it had to be. The quality of the judges is a source of pride to all Peruvians."
He called on the family and followers of Fujimori to keep calm as his backers had announced plans to take to the streets to protest the sentence.
"They have the right to appeal" but they must accept the rule of democracy, he said.
In Chile, the Group of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees of Chile (AFDD) celebrated the sentence against Fujimori.
The group's spokeswoman Mireya Garcia said that "a sentence of this kind proves that when the justice has conscience it is possible to punish" crimes against humanity.
The Guatemalan Center of Legal Actions of the Human rights (CALDH) said the sentence against Fujimori is a message of hope for the justice systems.
The CALDH director Mario Minera said "the sentence strengthens the State of Law when the impunity that covers some official who have committed grave violations is challenged."
Former Peruvian President Alberto
Fujimori's family, son Kenji (L-R), daughter congresswoman Keiko and
son-in-law Mark Vito Villanella, attends Fujimori's trial at the Special
Police Headquarters in Lima April 7, 2009. Fujimori was convicted and
sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday.(Xinhua Photo) Photo
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LIMA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Peru's President Alan Garcia
told media on Monday he was confident that the nation's courts will hand down a
just sentence to ex-president Alberto Fujimori, currently on trial for crimes
against humanity.
"As president, I am hoping for a fair legal ruling,
which is fully in line with the law. I am convinced that most Peruvians
understand that this has been a process will full democratic guarantees," he
said. Full story
LIMA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian former President
Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) rejected on Friday the accusations against him in
the Special Penal Hall of the Supreme Court.
In the second day of his self-defense, Fujimori said
that the accusations against him do not have sustenance and he is being accused
without evidence. Full story
Former Peruvian President Alberto
Fujimori listens to his sentence during his trial at the Special Police
Headquarters in Lima, capital of Peru, April 7, 2009. Fujimori was
sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday after being convicted of
"crimes against humanity".(Xinhua Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
