Fujimori verdict is due today in Peru

LIMA, Peru - Most Peruvians think Alberto Fujimori, the world's first democratically elected former president to be tried for rights violations in his own country, is guilty as charged of murder and kidnapping.

Yet with a three-judge court expected to render its verdict today after a 15-month televised trial, Fujimori, 70, remains remarkably popular.

"Fujimori is one of the best presidents Peru ever had," said Joel Marca, 23, a parking lot attendant who grew up in the countryside. "He built a lot - schools and highways - above all for the poor."

A poll in November found that two-thirds of Peruvians surveyed approved of his 1990-2000 rule.

Fujimori revived a crippled economy and crushed a fanatical Maoist insurgency before ending his decade in office in disgrace, fleeing into exile in a corruption scandal. In his final appeal to the court Friday, the son of Japanese immigrants cast himself as a victim of political persecution.

Fujimori is accused, among other things, of indirectly authorizing two sets of killings by a military hit squad.