Peru’s Ex-President Freed From Jail

Peru’s former president, Alberto Fujimori, has been released from prison in the country’s capital having spent more than 15 years incarcerated.

Hundreds of supporters surrounded his car as he left Lima’s Barbadillo prison.

The nation’s constitutional court reinstated a presidential pardon issued six years ago to the 85-year-old.

He is a highly divisive figure having been jailed for corruption and human rights violations while in office.

The former president had been serving out a 25-year prison sentence at the time of his pardon.

Mr Fujimori left the compound wearing a face mask, supported by two of his children, Kenji and Keiko Fujimori, who lost the last presidential election by a narrow margin.

The son of Japanese immigrants, Mr Fujimori’s decade in power from 1990 to 2000 in which he ruled with an iron fist was marked by a series of dramatic twists and turns.

His authoritarian government’s crackdown on two violent insurgencies during his tenure resulted in the deaths of an estimated 69,000 people.

Several years after his presidency ended, Mr Fujimori was found guilty of bribery and abuse of power and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for human rights abuses during his time in office – including authorising a number of killings carried out by death squads.

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