Peru’s Leader Fires More Than 100 Judges, Prosecutors

President Alberto Fujimori, continuing what he calls his war on corruption in Peru’s justice system but what others have branded a crackdown on democratic institutions, fired more than 100 judges and prosecutors Friday.

A decree published in the official daily gazette listed 135 judges and prosecutors in Lima and the port of Callao whose titles have been canceled.

Those who remain, it said, will be subject within the next 90 days to “an investigatory process and sanctions” on the basis of their conduct by a commission made up of Supreme Court justices.

The decree said all state bodies will be required to provide confidential information on those under investigation by the panel.

Fujimori on April 5 announced that he would reorganize the courts at the same time he dissolved Peru’s Congress, saying both were corrupt, inefficient bodies that had blocked his attempts to fight leftist guerrillas and the drug trade.

Also Friday, the president’s office said that Economy Minister Carlos Bolona, whose resignation earlier this week was seen as a severe blow to Fujimori, will instead stay on in his post.

A spokeswoman for Fujimori said that two other ministers, Industry Minister Victor Joy Way and Foreign Minister Augusto Blacker Miller, who had clashed with Bolona, would resign.