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Exiled Fujimori arrives in Peru to face charges

  • Story Highlights
  • Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori lands in Lima, Peru
  • Fujimori left Chile to face human rights charges at home
  • He is accused of ordering death squad killings, corruption
  • Fujimori has denied allegations, saying they're politically motivated
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(CNN) -- Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori landed in Lima, Peru, on Saturday, one day after the Chilean Supreme Court approved his extradition to face five corruption and two human rights abuse charges.

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Supporters of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori clash with police before his arrival in Lima on Saturday.

The extradition of Fujimori, 69, was announced on Chilean TV on Friday by Supreme Court Judge Alberto Chaigneau.

Gabriel Zaliasnek, Fujimori's defense attorney, said the "decision of the Supreme Court should be respected and will be respected."

Peru has alleged Fujimori ordered death-squad killings and participated in various acts of government corruption. He has denied all the allegations, calling them politically motivated.

"This does not mean that I've been tried, much less convicted. ... I hope that in Peru there exists the due process to clarify the accusations against me," Fujimori told a Chilean newspaper, according to The Associated Press.

And he didn't rule out a return to politics.

"I still have majority support from a very popular political current," Fujimori was quoted as saying.

A recent poll found 23 percent of Peruvians want him back in government, the AP reported.

The wheels for Fujimori's extradition were set in motion a couple of months ago.

A Chilean prosecutor recommended in June that Fujimori be extradited to Peru to face the charges. He was placed under house arrest at his home in the suburbs of the Chilean capital while awaiting a Supreme Court ruling.

Before moving to Chile, Fujimori had fled Peru for Japan -- he holds dual citizenship -- as his decade-long presidency neared its end in 2000.

Japan refused to honor Peru's request to return him for trial, saying its nationals should be subject to Japanese law and saying the two countries have no extradition treaty.

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He attempted to resign from the presidency by fax from Japan, but Peru's Congress refused to accept it, instead declaring him morally unfit to govern.

He arrived in Chile in 2005, in what some saw as a possible attempt to return to Peru and seek office there in 2006. He was under house arrest for six months in Chile, but authorities lifted the restriction last year on the condition he not leave the country. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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