Peru's ex-president Fujimori on trial for murder

Seven years after fleeing Peru in disgrace, former President Alberto Fujimori goes on trial today on charges of murder and kidnapping.

The charges stem from his alleged use of a death squad to fight a bloody insurgency in the early 1990s.

It is the first time in Peru’s history that a former president faces a public trial for crimes committed during his administration.

It is also one of the few cases of a Latin American leader being tried after his presidency ended.

A three-judge Supreme Court panel will review charges that Fujimori authorised an army death squad to identify and kill suspected Maoist Shining Path guerrillas and collaborators.

The trial will take place at the police base on the eastern outskirts of Lima where Fujimori is being held.