TOKYO — Peru's disgraced ex-president Alberto Fujimori said on Friday that he has no intention of returning to Peru even if his presence is demanded by investigators probing circumstances surrounding his resignation.
In an interview with Kyodo news agency, Fujimori was quoted as saying: "I do not intend to return" even if a parliamentary committee demands his presence.
But he declined to answer questions about whether he would stay in Japan and what his future plans were, saying he remained undecided.
A Peruvian state attorney investigating corruption allegations against the country's ex-spy chief said on Monday he was looking into evidence that could link Fujimori to money laundering.
Fujimori told Kyodo that any corruption charges, which he has repeatedly refuted, were "a calculated campaign" to discredit him both personally and politically and that this campaign still appeared to be continuing within Peru.
He has repeatedly said he suspected this campaign could be aimed at diverting attention from his own investigation into the alleged crimes of his ex-spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, who is wanted and believed to be in hiding in Peru.
Fujimori resigned last week from Japan, the land of his ancestors, where he has gone into exile.
Peru's Congress refused his resignation and removed him as head of state on the grounds he was "morally unfit."
Earlier this week, Fujimori told Reuters that he still has a mission to fight corruption in Peru, but also hinted that he may choose to do so from outside the political arena.
He had previously said he would return to politics by standing in elections next April, although he said he was considering several options. He did not elaborate.
Asked about his future plans, he told Kyodo: "Nothing's been decided as yet."
He also remained evasive on the question of whether he intends to stay in Japan for a long time and, if so, how.
Justice Ministry officials have said that as long as Fujimori can prove that his parents were Japanese, he is eligible to stay. In addition, he cannot be extradited.
An official in the small southwestern Japanese town where his parents were born told Reuters last week that Fujimori's name had been entered into the ancestral koseki, or record, after his parents emigrated to Peru in the early 1930s, giving him Japanese nationality.
Asked what he would do if the Justice Ministry decided he had Japanese nationality, Fujimori merely replied: "That is a matter for me to discuss directly with the Justice Ministry, and I cannot comment further."