Alberto Fujimori

To his supporters, Alberto Fujimori is the president who saved Peru from the twin evils of terrorism and economic collapse. To his opponents, he is an authoritarian strongman who rode roughshod over the country's democratic institutions in order to preserve his hold on power. Mr Fujimori's decade in power from 1990 to 2000 was marked by a series of dramatic twists and turns.

The Peruvian authorities compiled several cases against Mr Fujimori, including the death-squad killing of 25 people in two incidents known as La Cantuta and Barrios Altos, illegal phone tapping, siphoning of funds from government ministries, bribing of politicians etc.On 7 April 2009, a panel of three judges found him guilty of authorising the death-squad killings in 1991 and 1992 and the kidnapping of a journalist and businessman.

Throughout his 15-month trial, Mr Fujimori denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated. He inherited a country on the verge of economic collapse and racked by political violence. He implemented a radical programme of free-market reforms, removing subsidies, privatising state-owned companies and reducing the role of the state in almost all spheres of the economy. He was convicted and sentenced to six years in jail in another case in December 2007

After the Montesinos scandal broke, the opposition gained control of Congress for the first time in eight years and dismissed Mr Fujimori on grounds of "moral incapacity". Mr Fujimori was found guilty of human rights abuses in April 2009He was banned from office until 2011.