Chilean court suspends ruling on Fujimori's extradition case
Chilean Supreme Court announced Monday that it will suspend the ruling on the extradition case of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, citing Judge Orlando Alvarez's heath problems.

The Supreme Court said that Alvarez handling the case has been suffering from bronchitis and doctors asked him to take a rest for 10 days.

After returning to work, Alvarez will make the ruling whether Fujimori should be sent to Peru on the basis of case documents and public prosecutor Monica Maldonado's investigation report, said the Supreme Court.

Fujimori, who ruled Chile between 1990 and 2000, already faces extradition on 11 charges of corruption and human rights abuses, including 25 murders.

In Prosecutor Maldonado's report published on June 7, a charge of usurpation of power was added as a basis to justify a possible extradition.

On behalf of Judge Alvarez, Judge Urbano Marin on June 8 ordered Fujimori to be placed under house arrest amid fears he might try to flee the country to avoid extradition to Peru. Since then, Fujimori has been in a house in northern Santiago.

Fujimori, whose government collapsed amid a huge corruption scandal, was arrested in Chile in November 2005 after living in exile in Japan for five years, the country of his parents' birth. He was released on bail in May 2006 after being jailed for six months.