Lima: Peru's incoming president said on Monday that he would back the idea of ex-president Alberto Fujimori -- serving a 25-year prison term for corruption and crimes against humanity -- serving the rest of his sentence under house arrest.


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The 77-year-old has been in and out of the hospital in recent months for a series of health problems. This week he requested a pardon, without citing a reason. It is under review by the outgoing administration of President Ollanta Humala.


Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, set to be sworn in as president this month, said "there was a legal process that concluded that he should serve a sentence." He did not indicate anything about the pardon requested.


But "what I am prepared to do is have him serve it out in more pleasant circumstances at home, as has been done with people in similar age and health circumstances," the president-elect told reporters.


He reiterated plans to pass legislation under which elderly prisoners could finish their terms under house arrest.


Humala in 2013 rejected a Fujimori pardon request, saying medical reports indicated Fujimori`s condition was not serious enough.


Under Peruvian law, granting pardons is a presidential prerogative.


Fujimori`s latest hospitalization came 12 days after his daughter Keiko narrowly lost Peru`s presidential election to center-right candidate Kuczynski.


Fujimori, who was president from 1990 to 2000, was first jailed in 2007 and convicted in 2009 for his role in killings by a death squad targeting alleged members of the Shining Path guerrilla group in the 1990s.


He has also been convicted of embezzlement and bribery.