title: Peru's Fujimori taken to hospital from prison, life at risk: doctor
text: LIMA (Reuters) - Peru s former President Alberto Fujimori was rushed from prison to a local hospital by ambulance late on Saturday after suffering a severe drop in blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythm that put him at risk of dying, Fujimori s doctor said. Cardiologists recommended that he be removed from prison immediately, Alejandro Aguinaga said.  It looks complicated,  he told journalists gathered outside the hospital. Fujimori, 79, is serving a 25-year sentence for graft and human rights crimes. He is a deeply divisive figure in Peru. While many consider him a corrupt dictator, others credit him with ending an economic crisis and bloody leftist insurgency during his 1990-2000 term. The medical emergency will likely heap pressure on center-right President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to free the former  leader, a move that could rewrite political alliances and spark protests in one of Latin America s most stable economies. Three days earlier, a faction of Fujimori s supporters in Congress unexpectedly saved Kuczynski from a motion that would have forced him from office less than two years into his five-year-term. The opposition said Kuczynski only survived the vote by promising 10 lawmakers that he would free Fujimori if they backed him. Kuczynski s government denies the allegations. Fujimori fled Peru for his parent s native Japan as his government imploded in a graft scandal at the turn of the century. He was eventually extradited to Peru and was convicted for leading death squads that massacred civilians. Despite Fujimori s downfall, the rightwing populist movement Fujimori started in the 1990s remains one of the country s most potent political forces. His two adult children, Keiko and Kenji, lead rival factions of the rightwing party, Popular Force, that controls a majority of seats in Congress and pushed to oust Kuczynski this week. Over the past year, Kenji has challenged his sister Keiko s leadership and he has led calls for his release, which could give him a boost if he is freed. TV images showed Kenji, who led the faction that backed Kuczynski, riding in the ambulance that drove Fujimori to the Peruvian-Japanese Centenario Clinic for treatment.  If a (presidential) pardon happens now, it s because there was a pact,  Congresswoman Marisa Glave said on Twitter.  A pardon can t be decided in an under-the-table deal.  Glave is one of about 10 leftist lawmakers who - despite criticizing Kuczynski as a lobbyist - opted not to support the bid to oust him out of fear it would empower Popular Force. Fujimori s well-organized foes were key to Kuczynski s razor-thin victory over Keiko in last year s presidential election, and to keeping Keiko s followers from ousting him this week. Fujimori s supporters dismissed suggestions that his health troubles were a ruse to pave the way for a pardon.  There s no circus,  Luisa Maria Cuculiza, a former ruling party lawmaker during his government, said on local broadcaster RPP. 