Peru ex president Fujimori weds Japan businesswoman
Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, jailed in Chile, has married Satomi Kataoka of Japan, the bride announced late Wednesday at a rally for his political party.
"I want to give you good news: Satomi has married Alberto," said Santiago Fujimori, her brother-in-law, interpreting Kataoka's announcement made in Japanese.
She gave no further details on the marriage to Fujimori, 67, who is in jail in Chile awaiting extradition to Peru for a list of crimes allegedly committed during his 1990-2000 presidency.
The hotel owner, 39, arrived in Lima on Wednesday to support Alliance for the Future presidential candidate Martha Chavez in Sunday's election.
Kataoka did not explain where or how the couple married, as she spoke before hundreds of followers of Fujimori's party.
Representatives filed marriage registration papers in Japan on behalf of Fujimori and Kataoka, whom he met during his five years of exile in Tokyo, Kyodo News said.
"Today is the happiest day of my life," Fujimori said in a statement, Kyodo said.
Fujimori's newlywed wife said she was resolved to help Fujimori after she met with his supporters in Peru.
"I was deeply impressed when I visited Peru and looked at his supporters. I'm determined to stake my life on protecting him," she told Kyodo.
The former president himself is barred from making a comeback bid.
Employees at Kataoka's hotel in Tokyo declined to comment on the marriage report.
Fujimori ruled Peru for a decade from 1990, during which he had a public divorce with Susana Higuchi, a Peruvian politician also of Japanese descent.
Fujimori fled to Japan in 2000 amid a corruption scandal and sent a fax from a Tokyo hotel resigning as president. He was granted Japanese citizenship.
He abruptly flew out of Japan in November last year to Chile, where he was promptly arrested.
Peru is seeking his extradition to try him on charges of corruption and extrajudicial killings in his crackdown on Maoist rebels.
Fujimori was barred from running in Sunday's election, but his son Santiago is running for vice-president and his daughter Keiko has strong hopes of winning a congressional seat.
AFP
