Leader of Peruvian Populist Party Arrested

Keiko Fujimori arrested on allegations of money laundering.

Keiko Fujimori, head of the Peruvian populist movement and daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, was arrested on October 10 on allegations of money laundering in her 2011 and 2016 presidential campaigns.

Despite the controversial past of her father, who was jailed for the humanitarian abuses committed during his presidency, Keiko Fujimori has become the image of the family’s political legacy, which has formalized into a right-wing populist movement known as Fujimorism. According to the New York Times, she is “one of Peru’s most powerful politicians” and head of the Popular Force Party, which “controls the largest share of seats in the country’s Congress.”

Her political success has not been free of controversy. Keiko Fujimori has been at the center of several political scandals, one involving a connection to the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, according to the New York Times, that “has admitted [to] paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes for construction projects in Latin America.”

Despite these scandals, Fujimori still enjoys strong support. Many have continued fighting against her arrest. While in prison, Keiko Fujimori wrote a letter to her supporters that was posted on her Twitter, in which she said, “Persecution is disguised as justice in our country.”

She also stated that she was arrested “without legal grounds,” and claimed that political persecution is occurring in Peru on a large scale. According to Canal, Fujimori stated, “I have been persecuted for 18 years,...without evidence against me I am deprived of my freedom,” and that “ they abjured my father’s pardon, and now I and other Fujimoristas are arrested, this is called political persecution.”

Fujimori was arrested during a visit to the prosecutor’s office, where she had been called to testify against the accusations. She was detained on a preliminary basis, and will remain in prison for 10 days while she awaits formal charges. A poll quoted by The Republic showed that 75% of Peruvians believe that Fujimori is guilty of money laundering. The public’s belief in Fujimori’s corruption can partially be attributed to her family’s political history, which has been defined by scandals and abuses of power.

Asked about his daughter’s arrest,  Alberto Fujimori said, “I have not felt greater pain in my life than seeing my daughter being detained and taken to prison.” Her father has also called for “due process” and for their family to remain united during this “hard time.”

Keiko Fujimori has used her arrest as a rallying cry for her supporters, and claimed in her letter that Fujimorism “is a feeling that grows in these moments of adversity,” and that “this will just be another chapter of persecution.”