JURIST - Paper Chase: Peru court sentences Fujimori to prison for abuse of authority

[JURIST] Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday for abuse of authority in the last months of his 1990-2000 rule. Fujimori was convicted of ordering a warrantless search in 2000 on the apartment of the wife of former Peruvian Intelligence Director Vladimiro Montesino [BBC profile]. Prosecutors alleged that the search was intended to uncover and confiscate documents that might incriminate Fujimori. Fujimori admitted to ordering the raid, but said that it was meant to find Montesino, who was wanted for money laundering. This was the first time that Fujimori has ever been sentenced for a crime. AFP has more.

On Monday, Fujimori pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to charges in a separate trial for human rights abuses. Fujimori is charged with ordering the 1992 murder of 25 people, including a professor and nine students at the so-called La Cantuta massacre [backgrounder] at Lima's La Cantuta University. Fujimori was transferred to Peru last month following the Supreme Court of Chile's decision [JURIST report] to allow his extradition from that country on human rights and corruption charges. He faces three other trials in Peru, which are a consolidation of six separate charges all stemming from his actions during three presidential terms in office from 1990-2000, including authorizing illegal phone taps, bribing key congressmen and government officials, and misusing government funds.

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