Confined to a hospital bed, former president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, thanked the current president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, for granting him forgiveness due to sickness. Fujimori got sentenced to six years in prison for bribery and abuse of power in 2007.
In 2009 he got another 25 years for human rights abuse committed while he was president. He authorized killing by death squads.
79-years-old Fujimori said, “The news of the humanitarian pardon granted by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski surprised me at this intensive care unit.” He also asked for forgiveness to those who he let down.
“I am aware that the results during my government on one side were well received, but I recognize that I have also disappointed others, and I ask them to forgive me with all my heart,” he said in a Facebook video.
President Kuczynski said he granted a “humanitarian pardon to Mr. Alberto Fujimori and seven other people in similar condition,” but he did not mention the others. Protesters raised their voices soon after news of the pardon came to light on Sunday.
Many were waving pictures of victims, and one protester told Reuters, “We believe the pardon was carried out illegally. The reality is that this sadly was a political agreement between the Fujimorists and the current government.”
Fujimori is the son of Japanese immigrants and was Peru’s president from 1990 to 2000. Kuczynski defended his decision on granting pardon on Monday during a broadcast announcement. He called the move a “complex and difficult one.”
This article was inspired by BBC // Peru’s Alberto Fujimori speaks after divisive pardon