Fujimori's extradition from Chile paves way for Peruvian trial

Published: 2007-09-26

LIMA, Peru (CNS) -- With former President Alberto Fujimori in prison in Lima after being extradited from Chile to face charges of human rights violations and corruption, Peru's judicial system now faces the challenge of ensuring a fair trial in the high-profile case. On Sept. 21, the Chilean Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling and voted to extradite the former Peruvian leader. The next day, a Peruvian police plane returned Fujimori to the country he led from 1990 to 2000. The extradition "indicates that justice at the international level is proceeding as it should, completely apart from any political pressure," said Archbishop Pedro Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo, president of the Peruvian bishops' Social Action Commission. "People who have been in power (must) be accountable to the country for their accomplishments, as well as for serious errors that have violated human rights," he said. "Impunity has no place in a democratic society." The extradition paves the way for Fujimori to be tried in Peru on seven of the 12 counts included in the original extradition request.

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