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Fujimori To Serve 6 Years In Prison For Power Abuse

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By MONTE HAYES, The Associated Press

Published: December 12, 2007

LIMA, Peru - A Supreme Court judge convicted former President Alberto Fujimori of abuse of authority and sentenced him to six years in prison Tuesday in the first criminal conviction for Fujimori, who also faces human rights and corruption charges.
Supreme Court Justice Pedro Guillermo Urbina declared Fujimori guilty of abusing his power for ordering an illegal search as his government imploded in scandal seven years ago. He also fined Fujimori the equivalent of $134,900.

The former president was convicted of having a military aide pose as a prosecutor and search without a warrant the luxury apartment of the wife of his spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos in November 2000.

Fujimori, 69, ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000 before fleeing to Japan, his ancestral homeland, as his government collapsed. He faces three other trials on charges that include murder, kidnapping and corruption.

Fujimori showed little emotion during the hearing. After the sentence was read, he consulted with his defense lawyer and addressed the judge, saying he was appealing "partially" the sentence and the fine. He did not elaborate.

His daughter, Keiko, a congresswoman for his party, attacked the ruling as she left the courtroom.

"This is really an unfair sentence," she said. "Before, it was a political persecution. Now it's a judicial persecution. Like 90 percent of the Peruvian people, I don't trust the judicial system."

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