PERU: Peruvians protest Fujimori verdict outside Japanese ambassador's residence

Dozens of Peruvians protested outside the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima on Saturday (July 14), accusing Japan of protecting former President Alberto Fujimori from being extradited to Peru. The protest comes days after a Chilean court refused to extradite Fujimori on charges of corruption and human rights abuses saying prosecutors failed to prove their case against him. The demonstrators held posters and yelled 'Immoral Japan protects the criminal' as police guarded the residence. The Peruvians claim that Japan pressured Chile to protect Fujimori, who holds dual Japanese and Peruvian citizenship. "Japan has acted with dishonour," said one protester. "It has protected and guaranteed the impunity of Fujimori. It hasn't wanted to hand him over to Peruvian justice and now it is exercising political, economic pressure on Chile to guarantee the impunity of this assassin." The 68-year-old fled to Japan -- the country of his parents' birth -- after his government collapsed under the weight of a huge corruption scandal. He lived there for five years until arriving in Santiago, Chile in 2005. Since then, he has been under house arrest in Chile. The court decision came as a surprise since Chilean prosecutors had recommended extradition. Earlier this year, Chile and Japan signed a free trade agreement and expect to abolish most tariffs in the next 10 years.

ITN Source | July 15, 2007

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