Fujimori asks for forgiveness

Peru's ailing ex-president Alberto Fujimori yesterday asked the public for forgiveness, two days after receiving a controversial pardon from the country's current leader.

"I am aware that the results of my government were well received on one side, but I admit that I have let down other compatriots, and I ask them to forgive me with all my heart," Fujimori said in a Facebook video filmed from his hospital bed.

The 79-year-old had been serving a 25-year sentence for corruption and human rights abuses committed during his time in office from 1990 to 2000.

He was transferred from his prison cell to a hospital on Saturday after suffering from low blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat, the latest in a string of hospitalizations for the ex-leader.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski ordered the pardon of Fujimori and seven other prisoners on Sunday on humanitarian grounds, placing himself in the middle of a political crisis just days after he avoided impeachment.