On 24 December 2017, the President of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, pardoned jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori. Because the pardon was granted on Christmas Eve, it became known as the "indulto de Navidad" ("Christmas pardon"). In 2009, Fujimori had been convicted of human rights violations and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in killings and kidnappings by the Grupo Colina death squad during his government's battle against Shining Path leftist guerrillas in the 1990s. The verdict marked the first time that an elected head of state has been extradited to his home country, tried, and convicted of human rights violations. Fujimori was specifically found guilty of murder, bodily harm, and two cases of kidnapping. The pardon was granted after Fujimori had completed 10 years of imprisonment in Lima. The pardon sparked massive protests across Peru, even during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations, which are holidays in the country. Protestors accused Kuczynski of corruption, claiming that the pardon was payback for the support of Fujimori's son, Kenji Fujimori, which had been central to Kuczynski's success in surviving an impeachment vote days earlier. On 3 October 2018, Fujimori's pardon was reversed by Peru's Supreme Court and he was ordered to return to prison. He was rushed to a hospital and entered prison on 23 January 2019. The Constitutional Court of Peru in a 4–3 ruling approved the release of Fujimori on 17 March 2022, though it is not clear if or when he may be released. Background Legal situation According to Peruvian law, the president has the power to grant a humanitarian pardon when the condemned person presents a terminal illness; an advanced, incurable, degenerative illness where prison conditions put the person's life, health, or integrity at risk; or a chronic, degenerative, mental illness where prison conditions put the person's life, health or integrity at risk. Fujimori's criminal trial and convictions Alberto Fujimori was President of Peru between 1990 and 2000 in the period of the so-called Fujimorato. While still president, Fujimori fled the country and took refuge in Japan when faced with charges of corruption in 2000. On arriving in Japan he attempted to resign his presidency via fax, but his resignation was rejected by the Congress of the Republic, which removed him from office by the process of impeachment. Wanted in Peru on charges of corruption and human rights abuses, Fujimori maintained a self-imposed exile until his