Peru’s Fujimori sentenced to six years in prison

updated 6:26 p.m. ET Dec. 11, 2007

LIMA, Peru - Former President Alberto Fujimori was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday on a charge of abuse of authority stemming from an illegal search he ordered as his government imploded in scandal seven years ago.

Supreme Court Judge Pedro Guillermo Urbina declared that Fujimori was guilty of abusing his power when he ordered an aide to pose as a prosecutor and search the luxury apartment of the wife of his spy chief without a warrant in November 2000.

Fujimori, who ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000 before fleeing to Japan as his government collapsed, faces seven human rights and corruption charges in multiple trials.

On Monday, an indignant Fujimori shouted his innocence and waved his arms in outrage as he went on trial in a separate case on charges he authorized an army death squad to kill leftist rebels and collaborators. In that case, he faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted for his alleged role in the killings, which came amid a government crackdown on a bloody Maoist insurgency.

Fujimori is charged with homicide, kidnapping and severe injuries in relation to the massacres of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta, which caused the deaths of a total of 25 people, and the kidnappings of journalist Gustavo Gorriti and businessman Samuel Dyer in 1992.

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