Fugitive former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, wanted in Peru on corruption and human rights charges, was arrested early yesterday just hours after his surprise arrival in Chile, police said.
Fujimori was detained on an arrest warrant issued by judge Orlando Alvarez, who was tapped by Chile's Supreme Court to weigh Lima's request for Fujimori's extradition lodged hours earlier.
Police picked up the former president at the Marriott Hotel here, and he gave no resistance, police sources said.
Fujimori, who is 67 and wanted in Peru on corruption and human rights charges, arrived on Sunday unannounced in Chile to defiantly press on in a fresh bid for the Peruvian presidency.
"I plan a temporary stay in Chile as part of a return to Peru to keep a promise with a large part of the people of Peru that has called me to participate as a candidate for the presidency of Peru in the 2006 election," Fujimori said in a statement before his arrest.
Peru's presidential election is set for April 9.
Justice Minister Alejandro Tudela has slammed Fujimori's electoral plans as "a challenge to the rule of law and Peruvian sovereignty." Lawmakers in Peru have barred Fujimori from seeking public office until 2010.
Police said Fujimori would be held pending a decision on the Peruvian extradition request. After his private plane from Tokyo made a brief stopover in Mexico, Fujimori arrived with a tourist visa and headed for his hotel.
Japan refused to extradite him to Lima because Fujimori, the son of Japanese emigrants to Peru, holds Japanese nationality.
Japan's conservative Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said yesterday that the government which had welcomed Fujimori in 2000 only knew of his departure through media reports.
In Lima, President Alejandro Toledo convened an emergency meeting of the cabinet to discuss the situation.
"One cannot put it any other way: the government is concerned," said Gustavo Pacheco, chairman of the congressional Foreign Relations Commission.
Peru's ambassador in Santiago, Jose Antonio Meyer, had swiftly delivered an official note to the Chilean government seeking "the detention and eventual extradition of fugitive from Peruvian justice Alberto Fujimori," Peru's chief of staff Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced in Lima.
Some 1,500 people rallied in support of Fujimori in Lima; a video played at the event also made clear Fujimori's desire to seek re-election. But outside the Chilean ambassador's residence anti-Fujimori demonstrators chanted "Chilean brothers, hand over the thief" and "Toss out the rat."
RSS