Former Peruvian president set for shock comeback in Japan

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian Unlimited

10.45am
Former Peruvian president set for shock comeback in Japan

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Tuesday June 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Alberto Fujimori could be on the verge of an unlikely political comeback following reports today that the former Peruvian president has been asked to run in parliamentary elections in Japan next month.

Mr Fujimori, who is under house arrest in Chile awaiting a decision on whether to extradite him to Peru to face charges of corruption and human right abuses, has yet to respond to the offer by the conservative People's New party , Japanese media reported.

An official from the PNP reportedly asked Mr Fujimori, 68, to run in next month's upper house elections during a 90-minute meeting at his home in the Santiago suburbs. PNP officials could not confirm the reports when contacted by the Guardian.
(snip)

Authorities in Peru want to try him on charges that include embezzling $15m (£7.6m) and ordering killings and abductions during his 10-year presidency. He has denied all of the charges, and his fate now rests with the Chilean supreme court judge Orlando Alvarez, who is expected to rule on the extradition request within weeks.




Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,2106439,00.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Most Chileans Would Send Fujimori to Peru

Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Most Chileans Would Send Fujimori to Peru
June 19, 2007

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most adults in Chile believe their country go ahead with the extradition of a former Peruvian president, according to a poll by La Tercera. 75 per cent of respondents think Alberto Fujimori should be sent to Peru.

Conversely, 16 per cent of respondents would return Fujimori to Japan—where he lived in a self-imposed exile—and four per cent would keep him in Chile.

Fujimori administered the Peruvian government from 1990 to 2000. He left office after a series of corruption allegations and settled in Japan. In July 2003, the Peruvian government officially requested Fujimori’s extradition, which was denied. In November 2005, Fujimori was detained in Chile on the basis of an international warrant.

The list of Fujimori’s alleged offences includes misuse of public funds, kidnapping and murder. In the early 1990s, Fujimori launched a crackdown on armed groups. A government-backed paramilitary squad known as the Colina Group was involved in two separate operations, which left 25 people dead in 1991 and 1992.

More:
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/16172

[Judi Lynn]

2. Peru ex-president Fujimori mulls run for office -- in Japan

Peru ex-president Fujimori mulls run for office -- in Japan
06-20-2007, 03h51
LIMA (AFP)

Peru's ex-president Alberto Fujimori, under arrest in Chile and facing extradition on human rights abuse charges, is considering a run for office in Japan, aides said Tuesday.

Representatives of the conservative People's New Party approached Fujimori at his Santiago, Chile residence, where he is held under house arrest, and urged him Monday to run in July elections for the upper house of Japan's Diet.

Fujimori has faced extradition to Peru on human rights charges since November 2005, when he was nabbed in Santiago before he could launch a presidential campaign in neighboring Peru.

Fujimori, president of Peru from 1990 to 2000, is a Peruvian of Japanese descent and is a Japanese citizen. He lived in exile in Tokyo for five years while he plotted a political comeback, and is legally eligible to run.

More:
http://www.citizen.org/publications/release.cfm?ID=7528&secID=2354&catID=126

[MisterP]

3. yeah, he and Ishihara Shintaro can team up and institute a reign of terror