Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori Serving Prison Hospitalized Second Time In A Month

The 83-year-old former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori was reportedly rushed from prison to hospital on Sunday — the second time in a month, after suffering a blood pressure drop and irregular heartbeat.

Fujimori has been serving a prison term for crimes against humanity committed during his presidential term. He served 15 years of a 25-year term. He suffered a drop in blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat and was transported to a hospital, where his condition was reportedly stabilized. He was later transferred to a clinic for monitoring.

The former president had heart surgery in October. Fujimori suffers recurrent respiratory, neurological and hypertension problems, he was hospitalized on March 3 due to strong arrhythmia. After staying in the hospital for 11 days, he was returned to the police base where he is the only prisoner.

Fujimori’s latest health scare comes a week after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) urged Peru to refrain from implementing a high court ruling that would have allowed Fujimori’s freedom under a 2017 presidential pardon.

"The State of Peru must refrain from implementing the sentence handed down by the Constitutional Court of Peru on March 17, 2022, which reinstates the effects of the pardon for humanitarian reasons granted to Alberto Fujimori on 24 December 2017," the court said on April 8. Peru has confirmed that it would abide by any decision of the IACHR.

Fujimori was Peru’s president from 1990 to 2000. He was subsequently jailed over massacres committed by army death squads in 1991 and 1992 in which 25 people were killed in supposed anti-terrorist operations. Though Fujimori is praised by some for having restored economic stability and defeating the Shining Path Maoist armed group, he was also condemned for his violence and methods to shut down Congress and the judiciary.

Fujimori’s administration is also accused of forcibly sterilizing Peruvian women under the disguise of a family planning program, while the former president has also faced corruption allegations. From 1996 to 2000, during Fujimori’s second term as president, between 260,000 and 350,000 people, mostly poor, females and Quechua-speaking, were said to be sterilized.