Peru ex-president Fujimori to face trial for 1992 killings of six farmers

[Judi Lynn]

Wednesday 21 February 2018 at 11:34 AM ET

[JURIST] Peru's National Criminal Court Court B [official website, in Spanish] on Monday ruled [order, PDF, in Spanish] that former president Alberto Fujimori [BBC profile] must stand trial for the killings of six farmers in 1992 notwithstanding the medical pardon [JURIST report] he received from President Pedro Pablo Kuzynski in December 2017.

The court held that the medical pardon did not preclude Fujimori from standing trial for crimes against humanity. Fujimori is considering appealing [Univision report, in Spanish] the decision to the Supreme Court. Additionally, 19 other former government and military officials have been charged in the case [La Ley report, in Spanish].

Fijumori had been found guilty [JURIST report] of 25 people's death during a violent campaign against the Shining Path rebels. He was also serving time for multiple counts of illegal wiretapping and bribery, paying a former Peruvian intelligence director millions to resign, and ordering a warrantless search [JURIST reports] of former Peruvian intelligence director's wife's apartment.

UN human rights experts had denounced [JURIST report] Fujimori's pardon. They urged the government to treat him like any other person convicted of serious human right crimes who was given a fair trial and "whose guilt is not in question and who does not meet the legal requirements for a pardon."

http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2018/02/peru-ex-president-fujimori-to-face-new-trial-for-1992-killings-of-six-farmers.php