Pardon to Alberto Fujimori: Constitutional Court will publish this Monday ruling to release former president

The Constitutional Court (TC) will publish this Monday, March 28 the judgment in favor of habeas corpus that restores the pardon granted to the former dictator Alberto Fujimori, annulled by a Supreme Court ruling in 2018.

According to sources consulted by La República, the votes of judges Marianela Ledesma and Eloy Espinoza-Saldaña would be available only this Monday afternoon, leading to the release of the former president convicted of the crimes of La Cantuta and Barrios Altos.

As reported, on 17 March, the Constitutional Court declared the application for amparo filed by lawyer Gregorio Parco on behalf of Alberto Fujimori to be well founded. Since then, the TC is expected to publish the ruling on the reason for its decisions, which again validates the pardon to the former president that was granted in 2017 by the then-president Peter Paul Kuczynski.

TIED VOTING

According to TC magistrate Eloy Espinosa, the vote ended in a draw of 3 votes in favor to 3 votes against. In situations like that, it is up to the president of the entity to make the final decision. In this way, Augusto Ferrero Costa, current president of the tribunal, ended up voting in favor of habeas corpus.

They voted against, as planned: Marianella Ledesma, Eloy Espinosa-Saldaña and Manuel Miranda. On the other hand, Ernesto Blume and José Luis Sardón voted in favor. Thus, Alberto Fujimori's pardon is restored.

The magistrate explained that it will now be Ferrero Costa's decision to define how the sentence will be enforced, that is, to free Alberto Fujimori.

“In some cases it was directly the court that coordinated with INPE, at other times it was the court that referred this to the Supreme Court. In one way or another, the corresponding officials will have to coordinate to comply with the sentence,” he said on TV Perú.

RESOLUTION OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT IS PENDING IN THE BARRIOS ALTOS CASE

Judge Espinosa confirmed that the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is meeting from March 16 to May 4, remains pending; where the case of Barrios Altos will be heard. For this reason, the judiciary had initially denied pardon to the former president.

Espinosa pointed out that he and Judge Ledesma raised a previous issue to await the resolution of this court, but they were ignored.

“Everyone who takes responsibility for his votes,” he said, when asked what would happen if the international court decided to rule against Fujimori.

“We have done everything possible to prevent the Peruvian State from entering into a confrontation with the Inter-American Court. We haven't succeeded. The Inter-American Court is meeting just in this time frame,” he added.

The magistrate also noted that the case “appeared overnight” on the TC. The main argument was the health of the former president. The fact that civil reparations have not been paid to the victims of the massacres in Barrios Altos and La Cantuta, nor have they asked for forgiveness, was ignored.

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