Peru's Alberto Fujimori Guilty on Lesser Charges

Yesterday, a Peruvian court found Peru's former president Alberto Fujimori guilty of abuse of authority when he ordered an illegal search of an apartment without a warrant in 2000. The judge could have given him a lesser sentence, but instead chose to sentence Fujimori to 6 years in jail, at least part of which he will have to serve.

It's good to see him going to jail on at least this charge, but the big charges are still waiting. Just this week, Fujimori's trial on the more severe human rights based on murder and disappearance during Peru's struggle with the Maoist Shining Path rebel group in the Andean highlands in the 1990s. Fujimori stands up to 30 years jailtime if he is found guilty in this case. Additionally, as the NYT points out, from an historical standpoint, the trial could be important in revealing evidence about the Grupo Colina paramilitary death squads that operated in the country, allegedly with government support.

While the details of the massacres the Grupo Colina committed are well known, and it's no secret that Vladimir Montesinos was in charge of the Grupo Colina even while head of Peru's intelligence service during Fujimori's administration, Fujimori has remained defiant that he knew nothing. Also, as in Colombia with the AUC, there hasn't been much to date that directly connects Fujimori to Grupo Colina (and, like Uribe, Fujimori insists that, if any crimes were committed, he had no knowledge of them, nor did he participate in the decisions and orders that led to further violence). However, the trial could begin to reveal just how close Colina and the Fujimori government were connected, which will be an important step in reconciling the violence and human rights abuses (on both sides) during the Shining Path era and will hopefully reduce the current narrative popular among many of Fujimori's supporters that he "rescued" Peru from financial troubles.