Fujimori Gets Married (in Prison)

Last Updated: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 10:25 GMT 11:25 UK

courtesy the BBC

Peru's ex-President, Alberto Fujimori, who is currently under arrest in Chile, has married his long-term Japanese girlfriend from his detention centre.

Mr Fujimori married Japanese hotel magnate Satomi Kataoka under Japanese law after the required documents were filed in Tokyo.

He issued a statement saying the day had been "the happiest of his life".

Mr Fujimori is awaiting an extradition trial to Peru, where he faces corruption and human rights charges.

Ms Kataoka has now travelled to Peru for the country's presidential and congressional elections on Sunday, where her stepdaughter, Keiko Fujimori, is running for Congress.

Mr Fujimori - who has dual Japanese-Peruvian nationality - fled to Japan in 2000 amid a corruption scandal.

He travelled to Chile last year, hoping to launch a new bid for the Peruvian presidency in this year's elections.

He was arrested there at the request of the Peruvian authorities.

He governed Peru for a decade in the 1990s, during which time he divorced his wife Susana Higuchi after dismissing her as first lady in favour of their daughter.