Peru: Ex-President Fujimori gets 6 more years for wiretaps, bribing lawmakers, journalists

October 13th, 2009 LIMA - Peru President Alan Garcia has awarded the Medal of Honour of first grade to the visiting United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan here Tuesday, WAM news agency reported. The Peruvian leader also called for bolstering Peru-UAE trade ties.

September 30th, 2009 Chile invites Peru to disputed military exerciseSANTIAGO, Chile — The Chilean air force said Tuesday it has invited its Peruvian counterpart to send observers to military maneuvers that Peru has interpreted as threatening and wants canceled. The air exercise is set for late October in an area of northern Chile near Peru and is to include participation by the air forces of the United States, France, Brazil and Argentina.

September 30th, 2009 Peru: Fujimori sentenced to 6 years for corruptionLIMA, Peru — A court imposed a six-year prison sentence Wednesday on disgraced ex-President Alberto Fujimori, who already faced the prospect of spending the rest of his life in a cell after three previous convictions. He also was fined $9 million for authorizing wiretaps and bribes.

September 30th, 2009 Fujimori corruption trial begins in PeruLIMA, Peru — Former President Alberto Fujimori, who already faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison, went on trial again Monday, charged with authorizing wiretaps and bribes of politicians, journalists and businessmen. Prosecutors charge Fujimori and his former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos used state funds to secretly wiretap 28 politicians, journalists and businessmen, bribe 13 congressmen to join Fujimori's party and buy off a TV station and a newspaper editorial board for political propaganda.

September 30th, 2009 Peru ex-leader pleads guilty in corruption trialLIMA, Peru — Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori has pleaded guilty to authorizing wiretaps and bribes to journalists, politicians and businessmen. The 71-year-old ex-president already faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison because he has been sentenced to 25 years in earlier trials.

September 30th, 2009 Fujimori pleads guilty in Peru corruption trialLIMA, Peru — Former President Alberto Fujimori, who already faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison, pleaded guilty on Monday to authorizing illegal wiretaps and bribes of politicians, journalists and businessmen. Fujimori, 71 and ailing, appeared to sleep during chief prosecutor Jose Pelaez's accusation, but stirred at the close of the session to say three words to the presiding judge: "Sir, I agree." Pelaez requested an eight-year sentence for the illegal wiretaps, bribes and embezzlement, which would be served concurrently with a 25-year sentence imposed in Fujimori's previous murder and kidnapping trial.

July 20th, 2009 Fujimori sentenced to 7 1/2 years for embezzlementLIMA, Peru — Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison Monday after he admitted illegally paying his spy chief $15 million in government funds. Fujimori sat expressionless in front of the three-judge panel as the verdict and sentence were read.

July 17th, 2009 Fujimori: Illegal payoff avoided coup by spy chiefLIMA, Peru — Former President Alberto Fujimori said Friday during his embezzlement trial that an illegal $15 million payoff he made went to stave off a military coup plotted by his powerful spy chief. Fujimori acknowledged using state funds to make the irregular payment to intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos in testimony earlier this week, but said he should not be held criminally responsible because he later repaid it with money found in the headquarters of Montesinos' feared agency.

July 13th, 2009 Peru's Fujimori admits irregular payments in trialLIMA, Peru — Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori acknowledged Monday that he paid his spy chief $15 million in state money to quit as his government collapsed amid a corruption scandal. Fujimori's defense lawyer, Cesar Nakazaki, said the 70-year-old ex-president should not be held criminally responsible for the irregular payment to spymaster Vladimiro Montesinos because he later repaid the money.

July 12th, 2009 Magnitude 5.3 earthquake hits southern PeruLIMA, Peru — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 has struck southern Peru. The country's seismic institute says there are no immediate reports of damage or injury.

July 3rd, 2009 Peru bus collision kills 23 near Lake TiticacaLIMA, Peru — Two buses crashed head-on Thursday on a mountain road near Lake Titicaca in Peru, killing at least 23 people and injuring 50 more, police said. The morning crash occurred in the Santa Lucia district, about an hour's drive from Lake Titicaca high in the Andes, a Puno state highway police officer told The Associated Press by phone.

May 14th, 2009 Bolivia: Peru ties 'at risk' over refugee decisionLA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia's president says relations with Peru are at "high risk" after the neighboring nation gave refuge to two more former Bolivian officials accused in the 2003 army killings of dozens of protesters. Evo Morales says his government is considering its response to what he calls a "provocation and an open aggression" by his Peruvian counterpart, Alan Garcia.

April 30th, 2009 LIMA - Peru suspended from Thursday all flights to and from Mexico over the ongoing flu epidemic, in a decision that Prime Minister Yehude Simon described as 'painful but necessary'. 'We have the right to protect the country,' Simon noted.

April 7th, 2009 LIMA - Alberto Fujimori, a former president of Peru, was Tuesday found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in jail for human rights abuses and crimes against humanity, including ordering the killing of 25 people. In a historic ruling, the Peruvian court convicted the former democratically elected president, who fled his own country while still in office, for abuses committed during his presidency.

February 2nd, 2009 LIMA - An earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale hit southern Peru Monday, authorities said. The Geophysics Institute of Peru (IGP) said that the earthquake occurred at 12.53 p.m.