Santiago, Chile ? Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was released Thursday from jail in a move that stunned Peru less than three weeks before hotly contested national elections in that neighboring country.

A panel of Chile’s Supreme Court voted 4 to 1 to allow the Peruvian ex-strongman to go free, ruling that he posed no threat to public safety. But the court barred him from leaving Chile.

Fujimori, 67, fled the country in 2000 following a massive corruption scandal.

The ex-president arrived in Chile last November and declared his intention to return to Peru and run for president after five years of exile in Japan.

But Peruvian authorities quickly filed extradition proceedings against Fujimori on corruption and human rights charges, and Chilean authorities detained him.