Ailing ex-president Fujimori seeks pardon in Peru

Disgraced Peruvian ex-president Alberto Fujimori, serving a 25-year prison term for corruption and crimes against humanity, has requested a pardon due to ill health. The 77-year-old has been in and out of the hospital in recent months for a series of health problems. “Alberto Fujimori has filed a pardon request with the Justice Ministry. It will be processed under due constitutional and legal terms,” council of ministers chief Pedro Cateriano said in a Twitter post.

The reason for the request-his second-was not specified. He has previously had gastric problems, cataract surgery and five operations for a cancerous growth on his tongue. Fujimori’s children have asked President Ollanta Humala to grant him a reprieve on health grounds. But the president rejected the request in 2013, saying medical reports indicated Fujimori’s condition was not sufficiently serious.

Under Peruvian law, granting pardons is a presidential prerogative. Alberto Fujimori’s latest hospitalization came 12 days after his daughter Keiko narrowly lost Peru’s presidential election to centerright candidate Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

Fujimori, who was president from 1990 to 2000, was first jailed in 2007 and convicted in 2009 for his role in killings by a death squad targeting supposed members of the Shining Path guerrilla group in the 1990s. He has also been convicted of embezzlement and bribery. —AFP