Fujimori cleared in sterilisation case
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian prosecutors say they have dropped a criminal investigation against former President Alberto Fujimori and health ministers who served under him over a 1990s mass sterilisation programme under which thousands of women say they were forcibly sterilised.
The probe had been re-opened in 2011 under pressure from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. But in a statement Friday, prosecutor Marco Guzman said he had shelved the inquiry against Fujimori and 26 former high-ranking officials after deciding that no crime against humanity had been committed.
Sigfredo Florian, a lawyer representing the victims, said they would appeal and referred to the forced sterilisation case of Mamerita Mestanza.
“Only four low-ranking provincial doctors have been accused in the 1998 death of the peasant Mestanza,” Florian said. “And not taken into account were the 140 volumes of evidence from the complaints of the other 2,074 peasant women” who say their tubal ligations were coerced.
In this January 16, 2014 file photo, jailed former President Alberto Fujimori enters the courtroom for his trial at a police base on the outskirts of Lima, Peru.
Ukraine protest leader vague on premiership offer
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A top Ukrainian protest leader says the Opposition is ready to accept leadership of the country, but isn’t immediately accepting embattled President Viktor Yanukovych’s offer to become prime minister.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s statement yesterday, several hours after Yanukovych’s offer of the premiership, leaves the adversaries in Ukraine’s two-month-long political crisis still jockeying for position.
Yanukovych’s offer, coming as protester anger rises and spreads from the capital to a wide swath of the country, appeared to have been both a concession and an adroit strategy to put the Opposition in a bind.
KIEV, Ukrain — A protester throws a stone against riot police during a clash in central Kiev yesterday. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry has accused protesters in Kiev of capturing two of its officers as violent clashes have resumed in the capital and anti-government riots spread across Ukraine.
Put aside divisions, Pope tells Christians
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has led a prayer service in a Rome basilica attended by representatives of Orthodox, Anglican and other Christian communities in hopes of healing centuries-old divisions.
The service yesterday evening in St Paul Outside the Walls Basilica capped a week of efforts in Rome and worldwide to foster unity among Christians.
The pope told participants that divisions among Christians impair the work of spreading the Gospel in the world. He urged Christians to humbly continue “on the way to the restoration of full visible unity”. Francis also prayed for God’s help in overcoming “our conflicts, our divisions and our self-seeking,” which he described as obstacles to unity.
Rage and celebration on Egypt’s streets
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — It was a day of celebration and rage yesterday across Egypt as the country marked the third anniversary of the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
At the iconic Tahrir Square, several thousand demonstrators massed at a State-backed rally celebrating the military, which launched a popularly backed coup in July that toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Many there called for army chief General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to run for president in coming elections.
At the same time, security forces cracked down on rival demonstrations by Islamist supporters of the ousted president — and by secular activists critical of both camps. At least 29 people were killed.
CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian women wave nationals flags and posters of Egypt’s Defence Ministe General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi during a pro-military rally marking the third anniversary of the 2011 uprising in Tahrir Square in Cairo yesterday.