Fujimori gets 6 years in prison

A Peruvian Supreme Court judge convicted former President Alberto Fujimori of abuse of authority and sentenced him to six years in prison Tuesday in the first criminal conviction for Fujimori, who also faces human rights and corruption charges.

A police officer stands guard Monday near the site of Alberto Fujimori's trial in Lima.

Supreme Court Justice Pedro Guillermo Urbina declared Fujimori guilty of abusing his power for ordering an illegal search as his government imploded in scandal seven years ago. He also fined Fujimori the equivalent of $134,900.

The former president was convicted of having a military aide pose as a prosecutor and search without a warrant the luxury apartment of the wife of his spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos in November 2000.

It was the first prison sentence handed down for Fujimori, 69, who ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000, before fleeing to Japan, his ancestral homeland, as his government collapsed. He faces three other trials on charges that include murder, kidnapping and corruption.

Fujimori showed little emotion during the hearing. After the sentence was read, he consulted quickly with his defense lawyer and then addressed the judge, saying he was appealing "partially" the sentence and the fine. He did not elaborate.

His daughter Keiko, a congresswoman for his party, attacked the ruling as she left the courtroom.

"This is really an unfair sentence," she said. "Before, it was a political persecution. Now it's a judicial persecution. Like 90 percent of the Peruvian people, I don't trust the judicial system."

On Monday, an indignant Fujimori shouted his innocence and waved his arms in outrage as he went on trial in a separate case on charges he authorized an army death squad to kill leftist rebels and collaborators. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted for his alleged role in the killings, which came amid a government crackdown on a bloody Maoist insurgency.

"I received a country ... almost in collapse, exhausted by hyperinflation, international financial isolation and widespread terrorism," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

"My government rescued the human rights of 25 million Peruvians with no exceptions. If any detestable acts were committed, I condemn them, but they were not done on my orders. I reject the charges totally. I am innocent and do not accept the prosecutor's accusation," he shouted angrily as the head of the three-judge panel called him to order.

The trial on the charge of abuse of authority was conducted in closed hearings before a single judge because it involved a minor charge. The trials are taking take place at the police base on the eastern outskirts of Lima where Fujimori is being held.

The search of the apartment of Montesinos' wife was conducted without a court order. Fujimori admitted ordering one of his military aides, an army officer, to pass himself off as a prosecutor during the search. All searches in Peru require a court order and the presence of a prosecutor.

Fujimori justified his action by saying it was part of a nationwide manhunt for Montesinos after Switzerland accused him of money laundering.

The prosecution had sought a sentence of seven years, but Fujimori's defense lawyer Cesar Nakazaki had asked the court for a reduced sentence of four years, arguing that Fujimori was not the one who committed the crime but was simply the "instigator." Judges normally suspend sentences of four years or less.