Interpol to Chase Former Peruvian President

Alberto Fujimori is in Tokio protected by the Japanese Government. Faces corruption and assassination charges
Peru's President Alejandro Toledo made a new advance this weekend to bring his antecessor to national courts. The world-wide police authority Interpol issued an international arrest warrant against Fujimori, who enjoys a political asylum in Japan, on charges that include murder, kidnapping and crimes against community.

Fujimori is accused of instructing paramilitary death squads to kill dozens of suspected members of the Maoist guerrilla Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso). In 1991, these illegal armed groups killed 15 people and one year later planned a new massacre, when nine students and one professor died.

The warrant was issued after Peru's Supreme Court this week sent information to the Interpol office in Lyon, France to back its request for Fujimori's detention. "Interpol's main office in Lyon has put out the arrest order with the goal of extraditing Alberto Fujimori. (The order) will be issued worldwide for human rights crimes for which he can be pursued and which do not expire," said Minister of Justice Fausto Alvarado to Radio Programas del Peru.

The government of President Alejandro Toledo is in the process of preparing an extradition request that will be sent to the Japanese government. However, an extradition process is virtually impossible at current circumstances, as Japan and Peru do not have any treaty on this. Also, Fujimori is a Japanese citizen and the Asian country looks reluctant to deliver him to the international authorities.

When Fujimori left the Government in 2000 and asked for political asylum in Japan, he was already accused by several Human Rights organizations of crimes against humanity. Therefore, it is at least difficult to understand how Japan allowed him to stay inside its territory without asking for more details on his past behavior.

"Unless Peru takes the case to The Hague, will never obtain Japan's agree on Fujimori's extradition because the Asian country considers him as one of its citizens and they do not extradite them", had said Peruvian General Procurator, Mauricio Bedoya to the local press in December last year, when many sectors claimed for a stronger diplomatic action against Japan.

Vladimiro Lenin Montesinos, who is detained in a Lima naval base and faces dozens of charges that include embezzlement to drug trafficking to murder, allegedly formed the death squad together with Fujimori. Montesinos, a close advisor of the former President, has been taken to the courts by the local justice, where is expected to respond on more than 57 allegations.

Hernan Etchaleco PRAVDA.Ru Argentina

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