Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori should not expect his decision to run for office in the Japanese upper house elections to have any effect on his possible extradition from Chile to Peru, both governments said Thursday, AFP reported.

Fujimori’s announcement Thursday (Japanese time) sparked speculation it was an attempt to win diplomatic immunity to avoid facing criminal charges that await him in Peru, if he is extradited. Fujimori is currently under house arrest in Santiago, Chile.

But Fujimori’s outlook seems bleak. In a report filed by Chilean prosecutor Monica Maldonado on June 7, the Supreme Court was recommended to accept Peru’s extradition request. To make things worse, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said, after Fujimori’s announcement, that the Supreme Court would not be swayed by the move. The court “will do what it has to do, probably very soon,” she said.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia commented: “Surely he has his reasons or wants it to be a distraction. […] The mechanism of the laws takes a different path that peoples’ desires,” and went on to deny that Fujimori would be granted diplomatic immunity, even if he were elected: “There is not such diplomatic immunity if he is elected as a Japanese lawmaker,” AFP quoted Garcia.

Fujimori’s Peruvian spokesman in Lima, lawmaker Carlos Raffo, on the other hand denied that Fujimori was attempting to flee justice.

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