Peru's ex-president Alberto Fujimori freed after 15 years in jail

Peru’s ex-president Alberto Fujimori has been freed after 15 years in Barbadillo jail, hundreds of supporters surrounded his car after he left jail. He has spent more than 15 years in detention in the capital city Lima prison.

The constitutional court of Peru upheld a presidential pardon granted to the 85-year-old Alberto six years ago. The Peruvian constitutional court sought Wednesday to uphold a 2017 pardon giving ex-President Alberto Fujimori’s freedom. Despite this, an Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ordered to prevent the release of Alberto.

Peru's former president Alberto Fujimori freed after 15 years in jail https://t.co/HrSwXvY9od
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Why Alberto Fujimori was imprisoned?

He is a polarizing figure who was in jail for corruption and human rights crimes during his presidential tenure. The former president was serving a 25-year prison sentence at the time of his pardon.

According to Alberto’s supporters, he was the president who spared Peru from the twin evils of terrorism and economic collapse. To his opponents, he was a dictator who violated the country’s democratic institutions to keep power.

Peru’s ex-president Alberto Fujimori freed after 15 years in jail

Mr. Alberto is the son of Japanese immigrants. He reigned with a firm hold from 1990 to 2000. His decade in power follows a series of dramatic twists and turns. During his presidency, his dictatorial administration crushed two deadly revolts, killing an estimated 69,000 people.

Mr Fujimori was found guilty of bribery and abuse of authority some years after his presidency ended. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for human rights violations committed during his government, including authorizing several executions by death squads.

Peruvian tribunal court sentenced former president Alberto for 25 years in murder-kidnapping case

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When he received his sentence to prison at the age of 70 in 2009, most Peruvians expected he would spend the remainder of his life behind bars.

However, jail authorities transferred Alberto from prison to a hospital due to health concerns in December 2017. He had low blood pressure and an irregular cardiac rhythm.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski pardoned Alberto in the same month. When doctors declared his sickness was irreversible and that imprisonment posed a grave risk to his life.