Fujimori on Trial II
The former Peruvian president's trial has been an example of transparency and fairness, according to numerous observers. Yet the proceedings have taken place against a backdrop of growing hostility toward human rights defenders from parts of Peruvian public opinion and some government officials who remember Fujimori as the man who "saved Peru from terrorism."
As Jo-Marie Burt and Coletta Youngers document in an extraordinary account for WOLA, support for Alberto Fujimori has ironically risen at a time when the abuses of his 10-year-long rule have come to light more fully and graphically than ever before. A conviction against Fujimori would set a milestone in efforts to reaffirm the rule of law and end impunity in Peru and everywhere in Latin America. Reading this account and news stories, it's hard to miss the irony of Fujimori receiving the kind of fair, open trial that his regime regularly denied its opponents, not to mention supposed guerrilla sympathizers.
Today's news from Lima (read this story from El Comercio) would seem to support one of Jo-Marie's and Coletta's points, that Fujimori's defense team is doing its best to delay the verdict. Fujimori's lawyers will ask the judges to shorten the daily hearings from the usual eight hours, citing their client’s ailing health.
A verdict is expected in September.
Great story.
Posted by: Krystal Wubben | June 13, 2008 at 08:48 AM