Peru's Judiciary Rejects Request to Suspend Keiko Fujimori's Presidential Declaration

Peru's second constitutional court in the capital, Lima, rejected the legal bid intended to prevent Keiko Fujimori from being declared president, marking the end of a significant legal uncertainty following the election process. The court, presided over by Judge Jonathan Valencia López, rejected the 'habeas corpus' petition filed by Tomás Soldevilla Guerra—which sought to temporarily halt the process of installing Fujimori in office—as unfounded in terms of procedures. The court determined that the presented evidence could not establish the necessary legal link with individual liberty rights, and that such a legal mechanism is not a suitable instrument to annul election results or question the qualifications of candidates.

The central claim of the application subject to the court's decision lay in the allegation that Fujimori was constitutionally 'disqualified' due to her alleged ties with Japanese law and citizenship. The applicant, Soldevilla, argued that Fujimori's legal ties with Japan conflicted with the leadership qualities envisaged in the Peruvian constitution and that this situation prevented her from assuming office, requesting the examination of relevant official documents. During the hearing, a defense was made that for Fujimori to be able to act not only with her candidacy but also with the potential title of head of state, an 'unconditional, irrevocable, and collective' renunciation of her other citizenships was required. This request aimed to prevent the possibility of influencing the judicial processes of a foreign country and to avoid a potential legal escape scenario.

The allegations of the applicant were based on an event that took place in 2000, which left deep traces in the Fujimori family and Peru's political history. Keiko Fujimori's father and former president Alberto Fujimori fled to Japan using his Japanese citizenship as a shield just two months after the broadcast of videos known as 'vladivideos', which exposed a network of corruption. The former president's asylum in Japan to escape the Peruvian judiciary triggered a legal and political crisis that would last for years in the country and is remembered as a scandal that still retains its freshness in memories. Soldevilla wanted strict measures to be taken to prevent a similar scenario from recurring and to ensure that a person running for the presidency does not fall under the jurisdiction of another country.

When the legal basis of the allegation is examined, the issue of citizenship occupies a significant place among the conditions sought for individuals who can be candidates for the presidency in the Constitution of Peru. According to citizenship law experts, there is no legal way to renounce 'born' citizenship under the Peruvian constitution, but it is necessary to renounce acquired foreign citizenships. At this point, the applicant did not merely content himself with Fujimori officially giving up her Japanese citizenship, but also requested that the Japanese law system have no effect on Peruvian laws and that the risk of a foreign state remotely controlling or manipulating the decision-making mechanisms of the Republic of Peru be completely eliminated. This request aimed to subject Fujimori to a fictional loyalty test and to eliminate the legal ground for a possible future judicial escape.

Consequently, Judge Valencia ruled in his decision that the 'habeas corpus' mechanism, designed to protect the right to individual liberty and security, cannot be used as a tool to suspend election procedures or to temporarily revoke a candidate's title of deputy or president. The court determined that the plaintiff's allegations could not establish the necessary causal link with the protection of constitutional rights and completely rejected the request, ordering the file to be archived. This decision means the removal of one of the last legal obstacles to Keiko Fujimori being declared president.