JURIST - Paper Chase: Chile court rejects extraditing Fujimori to Peru

[JURIST] A Chilean judge rejected a request by Peru [press release, in Spanish] Wednesday seeking the extradition [JURIST report] of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori [personal website; JURIST news archive], who has been charged in his former country with corruption and human rights violations. In the 122-point rejection, Judge Orlando Alvarez said flimsy evidence led him to reject the grounds for extradition. Alvarez also said the Peruvian charges against Fujimori had no equivalent in the Chilean justice system. The decision will be reviewed by the Chilean Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish], and Peru has promised to appeal. Wednesday's opinion ignored the recommendation of Chile's chief prosecutor, who urged that Fujimori be extradited [JURIST report].

Fujimori, who was president of Peru from 1990 until 2000, was arrested in Chile [JURIST report] in December 2005 after flying in to that country to campaign for the Peruvian presidency, despite having been officially banned from holding public office [JURIST report] until 2010. He remains under house arrest, and is currently running for Japan's parliament [JURIST reports]. AFP has more. AP has additional coverage.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...