Weekly Report - 18 March 2010 (WR-10-11)

It was unprecedented for a presidential pardon to be annulled in Peru - until 14 March. On this day, President Alan Garcí­a decided to revoke a pardon he granted in December to a septuagenarian former television mogul, José Enrique Crousillat, in prison for corruption. The pardon was granted on medical grounds. It was taken away when these were deemed to be at best exaggerated, at worst specious. The episode received huge press coverage after Crousillat took legal action to try to recover control of América TV from a group led by Peru's main two daily newspapers. The hunt is now on for Crousillat, who remains at large. The justice minister, Aurelio Pastor, who approved the pardon, has been dismissed by Garcí­a after severe pressure from both the press and the opposition.