In defiance of an international court’s decisions, a top constitutional court reinstated former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori’s pardon for the second time in two years and declared that he should be released from prison.
85-year-old Fujimori is incarcerated for 25 years for violating human rights and engaging in corrupt activities. His release from prison was not scheduled until 2032, and he has been there since 2007.
Report says he initially received a presidential pardon in Christmas 2017 and was briefly freed before it was annulled after the intervention of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).
Meanwhile, last year, local courts reinstated the pardon but it was again overturned following pressure by the IACHR.
However, the newest ruling by the same court follows an appeal by Fujimori’s team and could prompt his release if upheld by a judge, or face a third block by the IACHR.
According to the National Human Rights Coordinator, Fujimori’s pardon “was the result of a corrupt negotiation,” and his release would be a “affront to justice.”
The former president, who ruled throughout the 1990s, was found guilty of ordering the massacre of 25 people in 1991 and 1992 while his government was fighting the Shining Path guerrillas.
Despite this, he remains popular among the country’s right-wing for his economic policies, particularly in the Fuerza Popular party, which is now led by his daughter Keiko Fujimori.
Peru is a member of the IACHR court and has in the past obeyed its rulings.
