Alberto Fujimori

Alberto Ken'ya Fujimori Fujimori (born in Lima on July 28, 1938) served as President of Peru from July 28, 1990, to November 17, 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of authoritarianism and human rights violations. Even amidst his 2008 prosecution for "crimes against humanity" relating to his presidency, two-thirds of Peruvians polled voiced approval for his leadership in that period. A Peruvian of Japanese descent, Fujimori fled to Japan in 2000 amidst a corruption scandal, where he attempted to resign his presidency. His resignation was rejected by the Congress of the Republic, which preferred to remove him from office by force of vote. Wanted in Peru on charges of corruption and human rights abuses, Fujimori maintained a self-imposed exile abroad until his detainment during a visit to Chile in November 2005. He was finally extradited to face criminal charges in Peru in September 2007. In December 2007, Fujimori was convicted of ordering an illegal search and seizure, and was sentenced to six years in prison. The Supreme Court upheld the decision, upon his appeal. On April 7, 2009, Fujimori was convicted of human rights violations and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in killings and kidnappings by the Grupo Colina death squad during his government's battle against leftist guerrillas in the 1990s. The verdict delivered by a three-judge panel marked the first time that an elected head of state has been extradited back to his home country, tried, and convicted of human rights violations. Fujimori was specifically found guilty of murder, bodily harm, and two cases of kidnapping. On July 20, 2009, a Peruvian court sentenced Alberto Fujimori to an additional 7+⁄2 years in prison for embezzlement after the former president admitted paying his spy chief US$15 million in state funds. He later pled guilty to bribery.