Peru’s ailing former leader, Mr. Alberto Fujimori, is begging the people for forgiveness, two days after receiving a presidential pardon that sparked street protests.
“I am aware that the results of my government were well received on one side, but I admit that I have let down other compatriots, and I ask them to forgive me with all my heart,” Fujimori said in a Facebook video filmed from his hospital bed.
The 79-year-old man was serving a 25-year prison sentence for corruption and human rights violations during his term from 1990 to 2000.
He was transferred from prison to hospital on Saturday after suffering from low blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat, the latest in a series of hospitalizations.
In the video, Fujimori was lying on a hospital bed dressed in a white dress, with a blood pressure cuff on his right arm and another screen connected to his left index finger. He spoke of the constant buzz of a surveillance device.
With gray hair and bags under the eyes, he spoke clearly, looking directly into the camera but also looking as if he was checking a prepared text out of sight of the camera.
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on Sunday ordered forgiveness of Fujimori and seven other prisoners for humanitarian reasons, placing himself in the midst of a political crisis just days after avoiding the impeachment.
The move sparked street demonstrations in Lima, and police fired tear gas and clashed with protesters who demonstrated Monday against pardon and demanding that Kuczynski resign.
The president defended his decision in a televised message to the nation.
“I am convinced that those of us who feel democratic should not allow Alberto Fujimori to die in prison, because justice is not revenge,” Kuczynski said in his address Monday night.
“It is about the health and chances of life of a former president of Peru who, having committed excesses and grave errors, was sentenced and has already completed 12 years” in prison, he said.
Anti-riot police deployed to prevent demonstrators from heading to the clinic where Fujimori is hospitalized, firing tear gas canisters and erecting barricades to disperse them.
A strong force of anti-riot police moved through the streets of Lima with the protesters and sought to prevent them from heading to the clinic where Fujimori is hospitalized, firing tear gas cannisters and erecting barricades to disperse the crowds
“Out, out PPK! Out, out PPK!” demonstrators chanted in reference to the current president, who had promised during his electoral campaign last year that he would not free Fujimori.
“Fujimori, murderer and thief. No to the pardon!” read a sign held by the protesters, some of whom also carried a giant Peruvian flag.
Relatives of victims of Fujimori’s brutal rule took part in the march.
“We are here as relatives to reject this illegal pardon, because it does not correspond to the gravity of the crimes,” Gisella Ortiz, from a group of victims’ families, told reporters.
Kuczynski's pardon came after Fujimori's son, Kenji, on Thursday threw out Kuczynski's voice on suspicion of corruption, prompting speculation that the pardon was political.
AFP
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