[JURIST] Peruvian Justice Minister Maria Zavala [official website] Thursday apologized for the 1992 death squad killings of nine university students and a professor in the so-called La Cantuta massacre [backgrounder] during the regime of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Fujimori is facing trial in Peru in November in connection with the killings. The head of a special three-judge panel of Peru's Supreme Court said earlier this month that the court would ultimately consolidate six separate charges [JURIST report] against Fujimori into three "megatrials" and one other trial proceeding.

Chile turned Fujimori over [JURIST report] to Peru last month following the Chilean Supreme Court's decision [JURIST report] to allow his extradition on human rights and corruption charges. Thousands of protesters [JURIST report] gathered in the streets of Lima, Peru upon Fujimori's return, demanding his release. Fujimori was held under house arrest in Chile after being arrested in December 2005 after flying into Chile from Japan to campaign for the Peruvian presidency, despite having been officially banned from holding public office until 2010 [JURIST reports]. He served as president of Peru from 1990 to 2000. AP has more.