A special penal court on Tuesday sentenced former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori to 25 years in prison for "crimes against humanity" during his 1990-2000 rule.
Fujimori, 70, was found guilty of ordering two massacres of 25 people and the kidnapping and torture of journalist Gustavo Gorritti and businessman Samuel Dyer.
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Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori listens to his sentence during his trial at the Special Police Headquarters in Lima April 7, 2009. Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday after being convicted of "crimes against humanity". [Xinhua]
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Fujimori listened to the sentence in calm and his defense team said he would appeal.
During the trial, the court examined cases including the killing of 15 people, one minor included, in Lima's suburb in November 1991, the kidnapping and killing of nine college students and their professors in June 1992 and the kidnapping and torture of Gorritti and Dyer on April 5, 1992.
Meanwhile, the paramilitary group Colina controlled by Fujimori is found responsible for the disappearance of 50 people.
Fujimori had also commanded an "anti-subversion strategy" which included "systemic and selective practices of forced disappearances and arbitrary executions (killings)," said the court.
On several occasions, Fujimori insisted he is innocent and that he is being tried for political reasons.
Fujimori, the first elected Latin American president tried in his own country for human rights violations, is already serving a sentence of six years for abuse of power in ordering a raid on the house of the wife of his former advisor Vladimiro Montesino in October 2000.
Outside the court, Fujimori's followers and opposers had small clashes. About 10,000 policemen have been deployed since Monday to ensure security.
Fujimori's daughter Keiko Fujimori said on Tuesday that despite the sentence against his father, which was "an aberration, full of hatred and revenge," the "Fujimorism will continue growing."
A pro-Fujimori legislator said the former president would appeal the sentence in international courts.
"We will go to the international courts -- not necessarily to the Inter American court of Human rights (CIDDHH) but to the European Tribunal of Human Rights. We are analyzing that possibility," said Rolando Souza, a member of the Party Alliance for the Future.
According to Souza, the trial, which began on December 2007 "was not impartial nor objective."
"Fujimori will not receive justice in this country ... I think that is impossible as the court was formed in 2000, during Toledo's rule," Souza said, referring to Former President Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006) who was Fujimori's contender in the general elections in 2000.
Meanwhile, Fujimori's lawyer Cesar Nakasaki said that the sentence was wrong and that he would request a nullity at the second and last petition before the Supreme Court of Justice.
