Peru Intends to Extradite Fujimori

Peru’s Minister of Justice, Alejandro Tudela, reiterated yesterday his intention to have Alberto Fujimori, the former President of Peru, extradited from Chile to stand trial on corruption and human-rights charges, including using a death squad to kill 25 people, illegal wiretapping — still a crime in Peru, if not in the U.S. — bribery, and illegal payments of more than $15 million to his spy chief, Vladimoro Montestinos. Peru lodged a formal extradition request with the Chilean government in January.

Fujimori has been jailed in Chile since early November, when he arrived in Santiago intending to launch a campaign for president in Peru, which holds elections on April 9, despite being barred from public office until 2011.

Tudela insists that Fujimori will be extradited to Peru before the current President, Alejandro Toledo, leaves office on July 28. The basis for such optimism is unknown, because Chile has not announced when it will take action on Peru’s extradition request.