Lima - Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison for illegal wiretapping and embezzlement during his 2000 re-election campaign. Fujimori, 71, had pled guilty Monday on all charges related to the embezzlement, the attempted bribery of politicians and journalists and illegal wiretapping during the campaign. The move prevented further details of the crimes from coming out during testimony.
National media speculated the move was designed to prevent negative news from affecting the presidential campaign of Fujimori's daughter Keiko in 2011 elections.
The sentencing is just the latest in a series of legal proceedings against Fujimori, who was president from 1990-2000 before fleeing massive corruption and human rights abuse charges. He faxed his resignation back to Peru from Japan, which gave him refuge because he had Japanese ancestors.
In July, he was sentenced to seven and a half years on corruption charges and in April was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in jail for human rights abuses and crimes against humanity, including ordering the massacre of 25 people.
Those charges centred around his ordering the killing of 25 people in La Cantuta and Barrios Altos and two kidnappings in 1991 and 1992. Fujimori was found guilty in absentia on a separate set of charges last year and sentenced to six years in jail.
He will face further corruption charges in coming months.
