PERU'S FUJIMORI ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS, THANKS KUCZYNSKI FOR PARDON
Former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori sought forgiveness from
Peruvians “from the bottom of my heart” on Tuesday for shortcomings during his
rule, and thanked President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski for granting him a Christmas
pardon.
In a video on Facebook, Fujimori, 79, vowed that as a free man, he
would support Kuczynski’s call for reconciliation, hinting that he would not
return to politics.
“I‘m aware the results of my government were well received by some, but
I acknowledge I also disappointed other compatriots,” the ailing Fujimori said,
reading from notes while connected to tubes in a hospital bed. “And to them, I
ask for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart.”
The remarks were Fujimori’s first explicit apology to the Andean nation
that he governed with an iron fist from 1990-2000.
They came after two days of unrest as protesters slammed the pardon as
an insult to victims and part of a political deal to help Kuczynski survive a
scandal.
The pardon cleared Fujimori’s convictions for graft and human rights
crimes during his leadership of the rightwing government.
Late on Monday, Kuczynski, a 79-year-old former Wall Street banker,
appealed to Peruvians opposed to the pardon to “turn the page” and defended his
decision as justified clemency for a sick man whose government helped the
country progress.
“I cannot keep from expressing my profound gratitude for the complex
step that the president took, which commits me in this new stage of my life to
decidedly support his call for reconciliation,” Fujimori said.
News source : MOSCOW
(Reuters)
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