Ex Peruvian president denied provisional freedom

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori lost a bid for provisional freedom today when a Chilean judge rejected his attorney’s request to set him free while fighting extradition to Peru.

Justice Orlando Alvarez said Fujimori, now being held at an academy for corrections officers, must remain under arrest as Peru pursues his extradition on 21 corruption and human rights charges.

Fujimori was arrested in Chile early yesterday, hours after his surprise arrival from Japan, where he had remained in a protected exile for five years after resigning the Peruvian presidency amid a corruption scandal surrounding his decade-long regime.