Congressman Jose Vargas of President Alan Garcia’s ruling Aprista party said Tuesday that the head-of-state could pardon jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori due to the latter’s age and declining health, daily El Comercio reported.
“I think that because Fujimori is elderly and that, apparently, he has cancer, a pardon is feasible could be considered, for strictly humanitarian reasons,” Vargas said.
“It is a personal opinion. I have not talked with the President or anyone else [about the matter],” Vargas added.
Cabinet chief Rosario Fernandez said the Executive was not considering the possibility. Vargas’ suggestion was also criticized by Aprista colleague Mauricio Mulder, who said Vargas had not even mentioned the topic to any of his colleagues before going to the press.
Fujimori is currently serving a 25-year-prison sentence for human rights crimes and corruption committed during his administration (1990-2000).
Hi daughter, Congresswoman Keiko Fujimori, ran for president and was narrowly defeated in the June 5 vote by leftist Ollanta Humala of the Gana Peru party.
Opponents of the lawmaker said her main goal in making it to the government palace was to pardon her father, even though she rejected that claim later on in her campaign. However, a plea has been filed with the Constitutional Court by her father’s lawyer, Cesar Nagasaki, to find against the judges of her father’s trial on charges of not being impartial. Such a finding would not annul Fujimori’s sentence but it would open the way to other legal avenues.
