Peru: Covid-19 and Fujimori’s Continuing Legal Drama

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the legal drama surrounding the Fujimori clan, the family seems now to seek to use the coronavirus pandemic to their benefit.

After former Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori was released from custody last Monday, demands for the release of her father, Alberto Fujimori, are now being made. Two of his sons lodged a “habeas corpus” petition and are hoping for their father’s release due to the risks of the Covid-19 pandemic in the prison system. However, this request was initially rejected on Tuesday.

The release of his daughter Keiko, under investigation for her involvement in the Odebrecht construction company corruption scandal, was granted by order of the second chamber of the Court of Appeals for Organized Crime. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in a lengthy judicial drama: in October 2018, Keiko Fujimori was first detained, in November 2019 she was released from pre-trial detention by order of the Constitutional Court, before the Prosecutor’s Office’s motion for a new detention was granted in January this year.

The present release, like the former ones, occurred against the wishes of Prosecutor José Domingo Pérez, head of the Lavo-Jato special investigation team. He fears that the defendant and her supporters are trying to cover up the case: “The judges of the Court of Appeal were unable to credibly dispel the prosecutor’s concerns that Keiko Fujimori would continue to obstruct the investigation”.

Pérez and his team appealed the release.

In addition to Keiko, other high-ranking representatives of the right-wing populist Fuerza Popular (FP) are also in the dock, such as the ex-Secretary General, Jaime Yoshiyama, or Fujimori’s former advisor, Pier Figari. The former has now also been released from prison as he is part of the Covid-19 risk group.

The once-powerful opposition party FP had lost considerable support as a result of the scandals and divisions in the January parliamentary elections and is now only represented by 15 of the 130 seats in the single chamber of Congress.

Keiko’s release, after which she has tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, also raised hopes among supporters of her imprisoned father Alberto Fujimori. His sons Sachi and Hiro Fujimori appealed to the court to take into account the fragile state of health of the 81-year-old ex-president. “Many say that the prison in which he is held is not as crowded as the others. And that’s true, but the risk is latent because prison staff are constantly coming and going,” said Sachi Fujimori.

The habeas corpus petition was ultimately rejected by the judiciary on the grounds that Fujimori was the only inmate in his wing at Barbadillo Penitentiary. His father was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2009 for the human rights crimes committed during his presidency (1990-2000).

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, riots occurred in several Peruvian prison facilities. protesting against the appalling conditions and lack of hygiene measures. As a result, Gerson David Villar Sand, the head of the INPE (national prison service0, resigned on Wednesday last week.

President Martín Vizcarra announced an amnesty in April for prisoners who belong to the risk groups and are being held for minor offenses.