In a message on its official account on the X social network, formerly called Twitter, the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) indicated that the video broadcast on the networks corresponds to a dental “medical diligence” of the former president. In it, Fujimori, 85, is observed entering through the door to “Colombian Aesthetics”, 20 kilometers from the prison. On the second floor of the place there is also a dental office.
Shortly before, another man dressed in black and who has not been identified by the authorities, had pushed and then insistently rang the doorbell until the door opened. Fujimori was next to two officers armed with rifles.
After the dissemination of the video, the prison agency indicated that Fujimori, sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of 25 Peruvians during his government (1990-2000), has been treated “for several years” at that dental center. The Associated Press asked the prison agency the date the former president attended his dental appointment, but received no immediate response. Fujimori has three other convictions for corruption.
This is the first time the prison agency has reported that Fujimori receives dental treatment outside of prison. Fujimori is serving a sentence in a prison where former presidents Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006) are also being held, who is being investigated for receiving an alleged bribe from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, and Pedro Castillo (2021-2022), who is being investigated on charges of rebellion and corruption.
The prison for the ex-presidents has 10,000 square meters and in 2020 Peru reported that it spent 189,000 dollars a year to take care of the unique prison that has 17 staff, including a nurse and a permanent ambulance.
All previous reports on Fujimori have been referred to medical emergencies, including cardiac arrhythmias, for which he has been taken on a stretcher or wheelchair to private hospitals. In 2012, a Fujimori publicist released a photo of the ex-president with a very emaciated face on a bed. In 2018, after a judge annulled a pardon that released Fujimori for several months, the former president sent a video to then-president Martín Vizcarra (2018-2020) where he begged him not to return to jail. “If I go back to prison, my heart won’t take it… don’t sentence me to death, I won’t give anymore,” he said.
The former president is the father of Keiko Fujimori, a former presidential candidate and leader of the Fuerza Popular party, the political group that makes up the strategic board of directors of the Peruvian Parliament. Keiko Fujimori is being investigated for alleged money laundering from Odebrecht, for which the prosecution has requested 30 years in prison. Fujimori’s daughter denies all charges.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
