Tokyo Concludes Fujimori Is a Japanese Citizen

Japan’s government has determined that ousted Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori holds Japanese citizenship, an official said Monday, a development that could allow him to stay in the country as long as he wants.

A government investigation found that Fujimori was born in Peru but registered by his parents at a local Japanese Consulate, making him a Japanese citizen, a Foreign Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Fujimori has not renounced his Japanese citizenship, said the official, who works in the ministry’s Latin American division. He added that under Peruvian law, Fujimori also holds citizenship in Peru because he was born in that country.

Javier Valle Riestra, a constitutional expert and former Peruvian prime minister, said his country’s constitution requires only that a president be born in Peru and contains no explicit prohibition against dual citizenship.

Fujimori cannot be extradited if he is declared to have Japanese citizenship, since Japan’s extradition law does not permit deportation of its nationals. It would have been difficult in any case because Japan and Peru have no extradition treaty.

Fujimori has been in Japan since mid-November, when a bribery scandal surrounding his former spy chief threatened his rule. The Peruvian Congress deposed him in his absence.