Peruvians protest against former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, holding posters with his picture after his arrival in neighbouring country Chile, in front of the Chilean embassy in Lima, last Sunday. - REUTERS
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP):
FORMER PERUVIAN President Alberto Fujimori lost a bid for provisional freedom yesterday when a Chilean judge rejected his attorney's request to set him free while fighting extradition to Peru.
Supreme Court Justice Orlando Alvarez said Fujimori, now being held at an academy for corrections officers, must remain under arrest as Peru pursues his extradition on 21 corruption and human rights charges.
HIS ARREST
Fujimori, 67, was arrested here early Monday, hours after his surprise arrival from Japan, where he had remained in a protected exile for five years after resigning the Peruvian presidency amid a corruption scandal surrounding his decade-long regime.
His detention Monday leaves people across the world to wonder: What was he thinking?
Some believe he simply miscalculated the situation. Others think he was confident Chile's Supreme Court would block his extradition and release him, as it has done for other former leaders who have sought refuge in Chile.
Fujimori was arrested at his hotel hours after his surprise arrival Sunday in Santiago and taken to the investigative police academy in a western Santiago suburb.
WAVING HIS HAND
He was transferred Monday afternoon to the training academy for corrections officers. He smiled at reporters, responding to their shouted questions by waving his hand and giving a thumbs-up sign.
Justice Alvarez issued the arrest warrant at the request of the Peruvian Government, which told Chile it will soon make a formal request for Fujimori's extradition.
On Monday, Fujimori requested that he be granted provisional freedom while the extradition proceeding runs its course. A decision was expected later Monday.
CHILE THANKED
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo thanked Chile on Monday for "taking this first step" in arresting Fujimori.
Fujimori fled to Japan in November 2000 as his 10-year authoritarian government crumbled amid corruption scandals. He faces 21 charges ranging from abuse of power and corruption to sanctioning a paramilitary death squad known as Colina, accused of two massacres of suspected rebel collaborators in which 25 people were killed, including an 8-year-old boy.
