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LIMA : Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori on Monday again denied knowing of the existence of an infamous death squad behind two massacres in Peru in the early 1990s.
"If there was such a group during those years, then its actions did not correspond at all to the agreed policies of fighting terrorism," Fujimori told his trial in which he is charged with human rights abuses.
Fujimori, who appeared relaxed and at ease in the courtroom at the start of his second week on trial here, said the army had already investigated media allegations that such a death squad known as Colina Group existed.
He said his former right-hand man and spymaster, Vladimiro Montesinos, and then defense chief Victor Malca had not told him anything about such a group.
The prosecution is seeking to prove that links existed between Fujimori and the Colina Group blamed for the deaths of 25 civilians in two massacres in 1991 and 1992 at the height of a government crackdown on the Maoist Shining Path guerillas.
On Friday Fujimori, who had managed to evade trial for years before being extradited from Chile earlier this year, maintained that if any wrong had been done it was by Montesinos, who is serving a 20 year prison sentence.
Fujimori, 69, faces up to 30 years in prison and the payment of 33 million dollars in damages if found guilty of perpetrating human rights violations.
The trial -- which convenes three times a week -- is expected to drag on for months, perhaps even years.
Even then, the result could be put to an appeal by the country's supreme court, some of whose judges were appointed by Fujimori's administration.
An attorney for the families of the victims, Ronald Gamarra, said Fujimori was just answering the prosecution with stock phrases such as "I do not remember."
"We are not going to get at the truth through this questioning ... the most important part will come when we start hearing the testimonies of the witnesses," Gamarra said.
The prosecution is trying to show that, while Montesinos commanded the agencies involved, Fujimori was ultimately responsible.
On Tuesday, a judge in a separate case sentenced Fujimori to six years in prison for ordering an illegal search of an apartment belonging to Montesinos's wife in 2000.
It was suspected Fujimori, who admitted to having an aide pose as a prosecutor to carry out the search, was trying to get his hands on incriminating bribery videos made by Montesinos and subsequently broadcast.
That sentence is being appealed.
Fujimori's downfall as president came in 2000, after he claimed victory for a controversial third mandate in elections widely seen as flawed.
Montesinos was exposed in a video broadcast on television apparently buying off an opposition lawmaker, and the ensuing scandal forced Fujimori to announce new elections in which he would not take part.
Days later Fujimori fled to Japan from Brunei and sent a fax from Tokyo announcing his resignation.
In 2005, Fujimori, who was trying to keep involved in Peruvian politics while in Japanese exile, flew to Chile on a private jet.
On arrival, he was arrested and Peru demanded his extradition.
He was held in house arrest until he was extradited in September. - AFP/ch
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