Peru's former authoritarian President Alberto Fujimori asked for forgiveness "from the bottom of my heart" to Peruvians he acknowledged having disappointed, and thanked President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski for granting him a pardon on Christmas Eve.

In a video posted on Facebook early on Tuesday, Fujimori, speaking from a hospital bed, promised that as a free man he would support Kuczynski's call for the country's reconciliation.

The remarks were Fujimori's first explicit apology to the Andean country and came after two days of unrest since Kuczynski unexpectedly announced he had pardoned him.

The pardon cleared Fujimori's previous convictions for graft and human rights crimes committed during his 1990-2000 rightwing government.

Late on Monday, Kuczynski appealed to Peruvians opposed to the pardon to "turn the page".