The former president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, is released from prison after more than 15 years

The former president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, has been released from the prison of the country's capital, where he spent more than 15 years behind bars.

As the BBC reports, hundreds of supporters surrounded his car as he was leaving the Barbadillo prison in the city of Lima, Telegraph reports.

He is the country's most senior figure to have been jailed for corruption and human rights violations while in power.

The former president was serving a sentence of 25 years in prison, but it was the court that reduced this sentence, deciding to release him.

Fujimori left prison wearing a mask accompanied by his two children, Kenji and Keiko Fujimori, who lost the last presidential election by a narrow margin.

To his supporters, Alberto Fujimori was the president who saved Peru from the evils of terrorism and economic collapse.

The son of Japanese immigrants, Fujimori was in power for decades, namely from 1990 to 2000, where he held power with an iron fist. /Telegraph/