 Mr Fujimori resigned the presidency by fax in 2000 |
Peru's former President, Alberto Fujimori, has been freed after six months in a Chilean jail on condition that he remains in the country. He has been freed on bail while Chile's Supreme Court rules on whether he can be extradited to Peru.
The ex-president is wanted in Peru on charges of human rights abuses and corruption. He denies any wrongdoing.
Mr Fujimori travelled to Chile from Japan, where he had fled to in 2000 before resigning as president by fax.
Chilean judges ruled that Mr Fujimori did not represent a danger to society and would not obstruct the process.
The former president - who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000 - was freed after paying $3,000 (�1,600) bail for his release.
"Obviously I'm happy, satisfied with the decision of the superior court. ... I'm confident and I'll have patience," he said.
Mr Fujimori had been in detention since November 2005, when he arrived in Chile with a view to running in the Peruvian presidential elections in April. He has now been banned him from running until 2011.
A formal request for his extradition was filed in January by the authorities in Peru, where he is wanted on 12 charges.
More than five years after the fall of his government, Mr Fujimori is still seen as a divisive figure in Peruvian society.
To some he is a saviour of a country that was on the verge of economic collapse and racked by political violence. Others see him as a corrupt authoritarian who rode roughshod over Peru's democratic institutions.
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