The issue of Fujimori’s detention returned to the headlines last week, as the Fujimorista majority in Congress piled on the pressure for a full-blown presidential pardon (indulto), threatening the future of two government ministers.

The Fujimorista majority in Congress has discarded the draft bill which would have permitted jailed people older than 75 and suffering from health problems to be allowed to serve their sentences under house arrest. Although the law did not exactly have Fujimori’s name on it, its evident purpose was to have the former president freed from jail.

The law had been proposed by Congressman Roberto Vieira, a cross-bencher with no formal party alignment. For the Fujimoristas in Congress, however, house arrest is not enough. They still hope their leader will receive a presidential pardon. Many do not consider house arrest an option as they see it as not that different from serving time in jail. Fujimori enjoys special treatment in prison of his own with comfortable facilities. See La Republica

Kenji Fujimori, Fujimori’s son who is a member of Congress, has declared that he will continue to fight for his father’s freedom while his sister, Keiko, has once again indicated she will seek a writ of habeas corpus, as she considers her father to be kept in detention unfairly. The Constitutional Tribunal last year turned down an application for habeas corpus.

Fujimori was taken into intensive care on 11 May, apparently suffering from difficulties breathing and a cardiac arrhythmia.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has repeatedly stated he will not grant Fujimori a humanitarian pardon. However, the Fujimoristas in Congress are increasing the pressure on the executive by now demanding that Interior Minister Carlos Basombrío be summoned for questioning (and possible censure) for allowing Movadef, a Sendero support group, to march in Lima on 1 May.

They have also indicated they intend to re-open the case against Transport and Communications Minister Martín Vizcarra. Vizcarra was due to be summoned before Congress in March, but the summons was suspended because of his key role in responding to the flooding crisis.