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Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has granted a medical pardon to former strongman, Alberto Fujimori, who was behind bars for corruption and rights abuses, triggering protests in the capital, Lima.
In a statement released on Christmas Eve, Kuczynski, pardoned Fujimori, 79, for “humanitarian reasons.”
Fujimori was convicted in 2009 to 25 years in prison for human rights abuses and financial crimes “proven beyond all reasonable doubt,” according to a three-judge panel.
Kuczynski, who had vowed as a candidate not to pardon Fujimori, based his decision on a medical review that found Fujimori suffers from “a progressive, degenerative and incurable disease,” according to the statement.
Fujimori is a deeply divisive figure in Peru. Many consider him as a brutal dictator, while others regard him as a hero who saved the country from an economic crisis and bloody leftist insurgency during his rule.
In reaction to the move, anti-Fujimori protesters took to the streets in downtown Lima, waving pictures of the victims of the government’s crimes from 1990 to 2000.
Two anti-Fujimori congressmen, Alberto de Belaunde and Vicente Zeballos, also said they were also resigning over the presidential pardon, local media reported.
Critics denounced the pardon as a result of pressure on Kuczynski by Fujimori supporters in Congress.
Meanwhile, supporters of Fujimori also gathered outside a clinic in Lima, where he is hospitalize, to celebrate the pardon.
Fujimori was taken to hospital late on Saturday after suffering a severe drop in blood pressure and abnormal blood pressure that put his life at risk, according to his doctor, Alejandro Aguinaga, who denied allegations it was a ruse to legitimize a pending pardon.
Political play out
The presidential pardon could trigger one of the biggest political realignments in the Peruvian government and Kuczynski might reshuffle the cabinet as early as this week, according to a government source.
Despite Fujimori’s downfall, the right-wing populist movement that Fujimori built in the 1990s has remained one of the most potent political forces in Peru.
His eldest daughter, Keiko, leads the opposition party Popular Force that controls Congress, while his youngest son, Kenji, has courted ties with Kuczynski’s government.
“We’re eternally grateful to you,” Kenji said on Twitter, noting that he was speaking for Fujimori’s family.
On Thursday, Kenji led a surprise defection in Popular Force that narrowly saved Kuczynski from a motion to remove him from office in the wake of a graft scandal.
“To save his own skin he cut a deal with Fujimori’s supporters,” said Veronika Mendoza, a leftist leader who competed against Kuczynski in last year’s presidential election.
Kuczynskis has repeatedly denied allegations that a promise for a pardon was part of any political negotiation.
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