LIMA, Peru (AP) — Controversial former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was buried Saturday after three days of national mourning in which thousands of supporters lined up outside a museum in Lima to visit the politician's casket.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte saluted the former president before his burial at a pompous ceremony held in the presidential palace, where his casket was saluted by soldiers dressed in 19th-century uniforms.
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Keiko Fujimori, left, embraces her daughters Kiara, center, and Kaori during the funeral of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
People attend the funeral of former President Alberto Fujimori n Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Supporters of former President Alberto Fujimori gather outside the cemetery during his funeral in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Keiko Fujimori places a flower on the grave of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, during his funeral n Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Supporters of former President Alberto Fujimori gather outside the cemetery during his funeral in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Kenji Fujimori mourns during the funeral of his father, former President Alberto Fujimori, in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Keiko Fujimori, left, embraces her daughters Kiara, center, and Kaori during the funeral of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Keiko Fujimori places a flower over the coffin of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
But Boluarte did not speak about Fujimori, a divisive figure who ruled Peru for a decade, and whose eldest daughter is now one of the country's most influential politicians.
Fujimori died of cancer on Wednesday at age 86. He was Peru's president from 1990 to 2000 and had been in prison for most of the past 15 years after being convicted of crimes against humanity.
Fujimori was a university professor when he burst onto Peru's political scene in the early 90s. His administration helped to put the nation's economy on track following years of hyperinflation, and defeated the Shining Path, a fanatic communist group that led a violent campaign to overthrow the government.
But Fujimori's government took an authoritarian turn in 1992, when he ordered the military to shut down Peru's congress and its supreme court and declared a state of emergency. The measure undermined Peru's democracy, and led to a period rife with human rights abuses. Political scientists say the surprise move against the congress, known in Latin America as the “Fujimorazo,” later inspired similar efforts by other presidents in the region to undermine local legislative branches and seize more power for the executive branch.
In 2009 Fujimori was convicted for the murders of 25 people in two massacres committed by a Peruvian military squadron in the outskirts of Lima, as well as the kidnapping of a journalist following the 1992 coup against the nation's congress. Fujimori received a 25-year prison sentence and became the first elected leader in Latin American convicted of crimes against humanity.
Fujimori spent the last years of his life fighting the 2009 ruling and other corruption cases and received a presidential pardon in 2017 from then-Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. The pardon was revoked following a ruling by the Interamerican Court of Human Rights, but was reinstalled at the end of last year, when Fujimori was released from prison.
On Saturday, Fujimori's children and hundreds of his supporters attended a religious ceremony for the former president that was held at a large theater in Lima.
“Finally daddy, you are free from the hate and vengeance of those people who did not forgive you for rescuing us from hunger and terror,” Fujimori's daughter, Keiko Fujimori said. “You are free from those years of injust imprisonment."
Fujimori is survived by two daughters and two sons. Keiko, his eldest daughter, is a two-time presidential candidat e. She now leads the conservative party Fuerza Popular, which has blocked several attempts by left-wing parties to impeach Boluarte for the deaths of dozens of anti-government protesters in December of 2022, and January of last year.
Associated Press writer Manuel Rueda contributed from Bogota, Colombia.
People attend the funeral of former President Alberto Fujimori n Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Supporters of former President Alberto Fujimori gather outside the cemetery during his funeral in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Keiko Fujimori places a flower on the grave of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, during his funeral n Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Supporters of former President Alberto Fujimori gather outside the cemetery during his funeral in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Kenji Fujimori mourns during the funeral of his father, former President Alberto Fujimori, in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Keiko Fujimori, left, embraces her daughters Kiara, center, and Kaori during the funeral of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Keiko Fujimori places a flower over the coffin of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
LONDON (AP) — A British teen pleaded guilty Monday to murdering three girls and attempting to kill 10 other people in what a prosecutor said was a “meticulously planned” stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, entered the surprise plea as jury selection had been expected to begin at the start of his trial in Liverpool Crown Court.
The July 29 stabbings sent shock waves across the U.K. and led to a week of widespread rioting across parts of England and Northern Ireland after the suspect was falsely identified as an asylum-seeker who had recently arrived in Britain by boat. He was born in Wales.
The attack occurred on the first day of summer vacation when the little girls at the Hart Space, a sanctuary hidden behind a row of houses, were in a class to learn yoga and dance to the songs of Taylor Swift. What was supposed to be a day of joy turned to terror and heartbreak when Rudakubana, armed with a knife, intruded and began stabbing the girls and their teacher in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England.
“This was an unspeakable attack — one which left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness," Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ursula Doyle said. “A day which should have been one of carefree innocence; of children enjoying a dance workshop and making friendship bracelets, became a scene of the darkest horror as Axel Rudakubana carried out his meticulously planned rampage.”
Prosecutors haven’t said what they believe led Rudakubana — who was days shy of his 18th birthday — to commit the atrocities, but Doyle said that it was clear he had a “a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence.”
Rudakubana had consistently refused to speak in court and did so once again when asked to identify himself at the start of the proceedings. But he broke his silence when he was read the 16-count indictment and asked to enter a plea, replying “guilty” to each charge.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and additional charges related to possessing the poison ricin and for having an al-Qaida manual.
Rudakubana faces life imprisonment when sentenced Thursday, Justice Julian Goose said.
Defense lawyer Stanley Reiz said that he would present information to the judge about Rudakubana's mental health that may be relevant to his sentence.
The surviving victims and family members of those killed were absent in court, because they had expected to arrive Tuesday for opening statements.
Goose asked the prosecutor to apologize on his behalf that they weren't present to hear Rudakubana plead guilty.
He pleaded guilty to murdering Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6.
Eight other girls, ranging in age from 7 to 13, were wounded, along with instructor Leanne Lucas and John Hayes, who worked in a business next door and intervened. Fifteen other girls, as young as 5, were at the class but uninjured. Under a court order, none of the surviving girls can be named.
Hayes, who was stabbed and seriously wounded, said he still had flashbacks to the attack and was “hugely upset at the time that I wasn’t able to do more.”
“But I did what I could in the circumstances,” he told Sky News. “I’m grateful to be here, and by all accounts I’ll make a full recovery, at least physically. … I’m going to be OK and others won’t be, and that’s really where I I think the focus of attention should be.”
Police said the stabbings weren’t classified as acts of terrorism because the motive wasn’t known.
Several months after his arrest at the scene of the crime, Rudakubana was charged with additional counts for production of a biological toxin, ricin and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism for having the manual in a document on his computer.
Police said they found the evidence during a search of his family's home in a neighboring village.
The day after the killings — and shortly after a peaceful vigil for the victims — a violent group attacked a mosque near the crime scene and pelted police officers with bricks and bottles and set fire to police vehicles.
Rioting then spread to dozens of other towns over the next week when groups made up mostly of men mobilized by far-right activists on social media clashed with police during violent protests and attacked hotels housing migrants.
More than 1,200 people were arrested for the disorder and hundreds have been jailed for up to nine years in prison.
In this Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook, Southport stabbings suspect Axel Rudakubana appears on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court, where he has pleaded guilty to killing three young girls and wounded 10 other people in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)
People queue at Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Axel Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)
A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)
A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)
FILE - Police officers watch members of the public outside the Town Hall in Southport, England, Aug. 5, 2024 after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club the week before. (AP Photo/Darren Staples, File)
FILE - Tributes are seen outside the Town Hall in Southport, England, Aug. 5, 2024 after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club the week before. (AP Photo/Darren Staples, File)