The judge, quoted in a BBC News report, has said that the evidence presented by the Peruvian authorities was unconvincing, stating “it was not proved that Mr. Fujimori ordered or had even the least knowledge beforehand of [the extra-judicial] killings.”

The report in BBC News also stated that Peru’s government will appeal the ruling.

Transparency International (TI) issued a press release in response to the ruling, stating that it is increasingly concerned that Fujimori’s case will remain without a trial as it has since he fled Peru in 2000. “Judge Alvarez’s decision creates a chance for impunity if Peru is not able to bring Fujimori home and try him in a due process,” Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International has stated. TI urged the Supreme Court to grant extradition so that he can answer to these allegations and face trial in Peru.

In 2000, Fujimori fled to Japan after his government became embroiled in a large scale bribery scandal, where he was recognised as a Japanese citizen and protected from extradition, according to the Washington Post. In 2005 he was arrested in Chile en route to Peru, where he hoped to re-enter Peruvian politics.

In a bizarre twist, Fujimori unsuccessfully attempted a bid to enter Japanese politics by running for the Japanese Upper House elections, BBC News reports. His loss was attributed to not being able to campaign, the news service added. This came despite a good standing in Japan, mainly due to a successful rescue of 71 Japanese hostages taken from the Japanese embassy in 1997. “If Fujimori has an image, it's not as a human rights violator, but as the guy who rescued the hostages," says Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University in Tokyo, TIME quoted.