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Title : Fujimori headed to Peru after extradition order
By :
Date : 22 September 2007 2259 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/301442/1/.html


SANTIAGO : Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori flew out of Santiago on Saturday for Lima after Chile's Supreme Court ordered his extradition to stand trial in Peru on human rights and corruption charges.

Escorted by Chilean police, Fujimori boarded a Peruvian police jet at the Santiago airport bound for Lima, where he will be tried for charges stemming from his 1990-2000 tenure as president.

The Antonov aircraft carrying Fujimori, together with Peru police chief David Rodriguez Segue and the Interpol chief in Lima Manuel Barraza, took off at 8:56 (1256 GMT) and is expected to arrive in Lima in four and a half to five hours.

Once Fujimori, 69, arrives he will be sequestered in the headquarters of the Peruvian police Special Operations Directorate, which has a 50 square meter (500 square feet) apartment with a bathroom and a small study, the Peru newspaper La Republica reported Saturday.

In an interview with Chile's El Mercurio published Saturday he said he hoped he would be treated respectfully upon his arrival and said that the "Fujimorism" movement would be revitalized.

"There is no negotiation. But clearly, I hope to be treated in my status as ex-president," he said.

"Obviously I cannot be held in a communal jail, for security reasons."

"I hope that there will be a fair trial to completely explain each of the accusations," he added.

Fujimori, who spent seven years in exile after resigning the presidency from a Tokyo hotel amid a burgeoning scandal, faces up to 40 years in prison for charges including responsibility for separate massacres by military units in 1991 and 1992, and a slew of corruption allegations.

He told El Mercurio that his political backers would rise up again following his return.

"I say that Fujimorism is going to mobilise, it is going to be strong. Fujimorism has deep popular roots. These people are going to support me," he said.

- AFP /ls




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