Peru declares 3 days of national mourning for former President Alberto Fujimori

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s government on Thursday declared three days of national mourning over the death of former President Alberto Fujimori and granted him a state funeral despite his convictions for human rights abuses and corruption.

Fujimori, who governed the South American country with an increasingly authoritarian hand between 1990 and 2000, died of cancer Wednesday at a home in the capital, Lima. He was freed from prison in December following a court ruling that granted him a pardon on humanitarian grounds.

His coffin was taken Thursday to the Ministry of Culture to lie in state until Saturday. Riot police and about 50 supporters surrounded the hearse as it moved through the streets of Lima.

Fujimori's daughter Keiko and son Kenji followed the flag-draped coffin as pallbearers carried it into the ministry. The siblings were met by President Dina Boluarte.

The government’s decision to honor Fujimori, including an order to fly all flags on public buildings at half-staff, was published Thursday in the federal register.

Fujimori, a former university president and mathematics professor, emerged from obscurity to win Peru’s 1990 elections over writer Mario Vargas Llosa. He took over a country ravaged by runaway inflation and guerrilla violence, mending the economy with bold actions, including mass privatizations of state industries. He also defeated fanatical Shining Path communist rebels, winning broad-based support.

But his political career ended in disgrace. After briefly shutting down Congress and elbowing himself into a controversial third term, he fled the country in 2000, when leaked videotapes showed his spy chief bribing lawmakers. He went to Japan, the land of his parents, and famously faxed in his resignation.

He was sentenced in 2009 to 25 years in prison for being the mastermind behind the slayings of 25 Peruvians while the government fought the Shining Path. The accusations against him led to years of legal wrangling, and he remained a polarizing figure throughout.

After his family announced his death at age 86, dozens of his supporters stood outside the house where he died and sang a song praising his government. Among them was businessman César Aquije, who held a sign that read “gratitude, engineer Alberto Fujimori” next to a heart in the colors of Peru’s flag.

“I remember the schools he built and the roads,” Aquije, 55, said.

Meanwhile, the sister of one of the 25 people whose deaths were linked to Fujimori criticized him and the government’s decision to honor him.

“Fujimori dies, convicted of human rights violations and corruption, and a murderous government like the one in the 90s pays tribute to him,” Gisela Ortiz posted on X. “Official messages of regret when there is impunity for his crimes.”

Boluarte, who became president in December 2022 and has an abysmal approval rating, has survived seven attempts by Parliament to remove her from office thanks to the protection of a coalition of political groups, including the party led by Fujimori's children.

Oncologist José Gutiérrez, who treated Fujimori, told reporters the politician suffered from cancer in his tongue that spread to his lungs after he underwent surgery in July for a hip fracture caused by a fall.

In December, Peru’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of a humanitarian pardon granted to Fujimori on Christmas Eve in 2017 by then-President Pablo Kuczynski. Wearing a face mask and receiving supplemental oxygen, Fujimori walked out of the prison door and got in a sport utility vehicle.

He was last seen in public on Sept. 4 as he left a hospital in a wheelchair. He told reporters that he had undergone a CT scan, and when asked if his planned 2026 presidential candidacy was still going ahead, he smiled and said, “We’ll see, we’ll see.”

Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Supporters of former President Alberto Fujimori line up to pay their respects outside a museum where his body is lying in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Supporters of former President Alberto Fujimori gather outside the home of his daughter Keiko, the day after he died in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Supporters of former President Alberto Fujimori gather outside the home of his daughter Keiko, the day after he died in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Pallbearers carry the coffin of former President Alberto Fujimori from the home of his daughter Keiko, the day after he died in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Pallbearers carry the coffin of former President Alberto Fujimori from the home of his daughter Keiko, the day after he died in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Kenji Fujimori stands by the coffin of his father, former President Alberto Fujimori, during his wake in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Kenji Fujimori and his sister Keiko look on as Peruvian President Dina Boluarte pays her respects to late former President Alberto Fujimori during his wake in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Keiko Fujimori and her brother Kenji follow pallbearers carrying the coffin of their father, former President Alberto Fujimori to a museum for his wake in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Keiko Fujimori, right, and her brother Kenji stand by as pallbearers carry the coffin of their father, former President Alberto Fujimori, out of Keiko's home the day after he died in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Keiko Fujimori, right, and her brother Kenji stand by as pallbearers carry the coffin of their father, former President Alberto Fujimori, out of Keiko's home the day after he died in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Keiko Fujimori, her brother Kenji, and other relatives follow pallbearers carrying the coffin of their father, former President Alberto Fujimori, to a museum for his wake in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Supporters of former President Alberto Fujimori line up to pay their respects outside a museum where his body is lying in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

A key employee who labeled an experimental submersible unsafe prior to its last, fatal voyage began his testimony Tuesday before U.S. Coast Guard investigators.

David Lochridge is one of the most anticipated witnesses to appear before a commission trying to determine what caused the Titan to implode en route to the wreckage of the Titanic last year, killing all five on board.

Lochridge is former operations director for OceanGate, the company that owned the Titan and brought it on several dives to the Titanic going back to 2021. He claimed several years ago that he was fired for raising safety concerns.

His testimony began a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

Among those killed was Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate. The company, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion.

OceanGate's former engineering director, Tony Nissen, kicked off Monday's testimony, telling investigators that he felt pressured to get the vessel ready to dive and refused to pilot it for a journey several years before Titan's last trip.

“‘I’m not getting in it,’” Nissen said he told Rush.

When asked if there was pressure to get Titan into the water, Nissen responded, “100%.”

But asked if he felt that the pressure compromised safety decisions and testing, Nissen paused, then replied, “No. And that’s a difficult question to answer, because given infinite time and infinite budget, you could do infinite testing.”

OceanGate's former finance and human resources director, Bonnie Carl, testified Monday that Lochridge had characterized the Titan as “unsafe.” Lochridge is expected to provide more perspective on what caused the implosion.

Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan's unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

During the submersible's final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan's depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.

One of the last messages from Titan’s crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, “all good here,” according to a visual re-creation presented earlier in the hearing.

When the submersible was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.

Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Numerous guard officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The U.S. Coast Guard subpoenaed witnesses who were not government employees, said Coast Guard spokesperson Melissa Leake.

Among those not on the hearing witness list is Rush’s widow, Wendy Rush, the company’s communications director. Asked about her absence, Leake said the Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific individuals to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations. She said it’s common for a Marine Board of Investigation to “hold multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness depositions for complex cases.”

OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by an attorney during the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company said it has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began.

The time frame for the investigation was initially a year, but the inquiry has taken longer. The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard’s commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation.

Coast Guard's Thomas Whalen, left, speaks with Nicole Emmons, right, during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard's Thomas Whalen speaks with another Coast Guard member during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Jason Neubauer, board chairman, of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pauses for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pause for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing take an oath inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

A key employee who called the Titan unsafe will testify before the Coast Guard

FILE - This undated image provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)

A key employee who called the Titan unsafe will testify before the Coast Guard