At Trial, Peru’s Fujimori Says He’s Innocent

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: NYT

Former President Alberto K. Fujimori of Peru defiantly defended himself in court on Wednesday against accusations of human rights abuses, saying that he was innocent of murder and kidnapping charges related to his government’s counterinsurgency tactics during a bloody period of guerrilla attacks in the early 1990s.
Mr. Fujimori took the stand in his own defense at his trial in Lima, Peru, now in its 15th month. He was seeking to convince a three-judge panel that he should not be held responsible for a dirty war that prosecutors said led to the deaths of 25 people by two military death squads, as well as the kidnappings of a businessman and a journalist.

In nationally televised testimony, Mr. Fujimori read from a prepared statement, describing the campaign against guerrillas during his presidency from 1990 to 2000 as a “policy of pacification.”

“I did nothing wrong,” he said indignantly. “The Peru that I inherited was a disaster. It was a Peru that had to be rescued.” He added that the campaign against terrorism was intended to “eliminate the disorder and anarchy that had taken hold of Peru.”

Mr. Fujimori is believed to be the world’s first democratically elected former president to be tried for human rights violations in his own country.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/world/americas/02fujimori.html?ref=world

[EFerrari]

1. "Now, watch my daughter run for president."

[SwiperFox]

2. criminal link goes far south...

At least this criminal and the mastermind, Montesinos, are being tried and are in jail. Where are Bush and Cheney?
Rove laughing at the congressional subpoenas. You do know that Montesinos was an agent for the CIA back in the 80's and obviously all through his stay as the hand behind the throne in peruvian power through the 1990's, right?