Peru's ambassador to Japan expressed hope yesterday that Japan will extradite disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori to face murder and embezzlement charges. Fujimori, meanwhile, said Lima's requests for custody showed he was a victim of "political persecution."
Fujimori has been in self-exile in Japan since fleeing his homeland in November 2000 as his government crumbled amid a corruption scandal. Fujimori, the son of Japanese immigrants, has been shielded from extradition by Japanese citizenship granted to him after his arrival.
Tokyo repeatedly has said Japanese citizens can't be extradited under Japanese law.
On Friday, Macchiavello filed Peru's second request for Fujimori's extradition, alleging the former president embezzled US$15 million in state funds when he was in office. Lima filed its first extradition request last year, asking that Fujimori be handed over to face murder charges for the death squad slayings of suspected rebels.
Macchiavello also submitted a document to Japan's Foreign Ministry answering questions Tokyo asked in August about the initial request.
"Peru, by submitting the document containing the required answers, has complied with all the requirements demanded by Japan," Macchiavello said at a news conference. He added he was confident "that the extradition of Mr Fujimori will be granted."
Fujimori, meanwhile, dismissed Lima's answers, saying they underscored "the lack of reasonable evidence" and didn't "respond to the questions presented by the Japanese government."
Fujimori has denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to run in elections in Peru despite a ruling by Congress banning him from public office until 2010.
The second extradition request alleges Fujimori embezzled US$15 million by illegally issuing a decree allowing him to withdraw the funds from the Defense Ministry budget to hand over to Vladimiro Montesinos, his imprisoned former spy chief.
Montesinos is accused of corruption, arranging weapons sales to Colombian rebels, drug trafficking and authorizing death squad killings while working for Fujimori in the 1990s.
Fujimori claimed the Peruvian government made its second request for extradition in an attempt to divert attention from growing public disapproval of President Alejandro Toledo's administration as well as increasing support for Fujimori.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number