Peru frees US 'rebel' Lori Berenson after 15 years

[BeyondGeography]

Source: BBC

Lori Berenson, an American citizen who has served 15 years in a Peruvian prison for aiding leftist rebels, has been freed on parole.

Ms Berenson, 40, was arrested in 1995 for her alleged role in a plot to attack the Peruvian Congress.

A military court found her guilty of collaborating with the left-wing Tupac Amaru rebel group and sentenced her to life imprisonment, later reduced to 20 years in prison.

She has always denied the charges.

The judge ordered her to stay in Peru for five years in order to serve out the remaining years of her sentence on conditional release.


Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/latin_america/10159928.stm

[naaman fletcher]

1. she's luck she's alive, as she is guilty. nt

[Downtown Hound]

6. You don't know that

Even I don't know that, and I've actually talked with her parents before. But I can tell you that none of us really have a clear picture of what happened down there. Not you, not me, not the media. It's a black hole filled with politics, corruption, and lies.

At worst, Lori's role in the MRTA was minimal and the Peruvian government simply used her to tout how tough on terrorism they were. Sound familiar?

At best, she is innocent of all charges. When her parole is up and she is finally allowed to present her side of the story, then we will get a better picture of what went on.

[EFerrari]

7. We know her main accuser is behind bars now. n/t

[Downtown Hound]

9. A few other interesting facts about Lori Berenson

At her second trial, which was widely criticized by many human rights organizations as being grossly unfair and prejudiced against her, her "judge" was revealed to be one of Vladimir Montesinos' boys. Montesinos is the now imprisoned former spymaster of Peru and graduate of the School of the Americas, and is said to have committed countless human rights violations.

There is a video of Montesinos discussing Lori's upcoming trial, in which he basically admitted that she would be found guilty and sentenced to 20 years. Her guilt was predetermined, and she never had a fair day in court.

I can't say I know for sure what Lori Berenson was up to in Peru. What I can say for certain is that she never had a fair trial to be able to prove her innocence.

[naaman fletcher]

12. Do you know that she had an appeal after that?

An appeal to the inter-american court of human rights in Costa Rica? Her conviction was upheld.

[Downtown Hound]

14. No dude, that WAS her second trial. n/t

[naaman fletcher]

15. No, there was a third. nt.

[Downtown Hound]

17. A third?

What are you talking about? There was no third. That was simply an appeal Lori made to an international court, not a trial.

[naaman fletcher]

19. You are correct.

I am sorry for the sloppy language was rushing around. She appealed to a credible court. Yes, on some cosmic level there is never certainty in anything but all the evidence and even her own admitted actions suggest she's guilty.

[naaman fletcher]

11. Well, I guess i don't know OJ is guilty either.

But its pretty clear.

she rented the house. it housed MRTA militants and 8,000 rounds of ammo. She applied for a press pass yet never published an article. She toured the congressional building with a photographer who was a MRTA wife, and a model of that building turned up at her house.

When arrested she held her fist in the air and said there were no MRTA criminals, just revolutionaries.

Her parents will say anything to get her out.

If you want to do some sort of cosmic "well we never really know anything" argument, then fine. If you want to live in the world of reality, she is guilty, despite your affinity for her politics.

[Downtown Hound]

16. Did you know that at the time of her arrest

She had in fact not been living at that house for more than 3 months and was in fact living in apartment across town? And that at her second trial the apartment manager testified that most of the MRTA members arrested there had in fact moved in after Lori had gone? And that the Peruvian congressman she interviewed also testified that Lori asked legitimate journalistic questions while she was there?

That she applied for a press pass but never published an article is not at all unusual for anybody that understands the world of freelance journalism.

And while it is true that she toured the congressional building with with wife of an MRTA leader, that same leader testified at her second trial that Lori knew nothing of their activities and they were in fact using her as cover, not the other way around.

And yes, she did say the MRTA are not criminals, and that's simply an opinion. One world's terrorist in another's freedom fighter. When she said those words she had been held in jail for weeks under horrid conditions which included being left in a cell with a prisoner that had been shot by police and not given any medical attention. She had been told she would be spending decades in horrible prisons. Lori knew enough about Peruvian justice to know that she wouldn't found innocent by any military tribunal.

So I ask you, what might you say if you were in her shoes? How might the MRTA look to you at that given moment? And any answer you give is meaningless, because you've never walked in her shoes. And neither have I. All I know is there is a lot more to the story than the narrow version of it you're presenting.

Learn more, react less, and try and keep an open mind. Not everything is as it appears.

[naaman fletcher]

23. Well,

On balance I think she is guilty, but I thank you for your information and am now less strident in my belief.

[Kali]

2. wow

I didn't know she had married and given birth,
I remember a Democracy Now! story during the court review. geez that was in 2001? Wasn't there something more recent?

[David__77]

3. Good. Now hopefully Alan Garcia will go to prison.

The counterinsurgency war was a war against the people.

[UpInArms]

4. hurrah!

I am so glad for her and her family. This has been a long haul.

[superconnected]

5. Pic of Lori Berenson

[EFerrari]

8. Her dad was on Amy's show today. One happy man.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/26/after_over_14_years_in_peruvian

[Judi Lynn]

10. Thanks for posting the link. Glad her parents lived to see this day.

How odd Fujimori's daughter calls for Lori to go back to prison.

Glad creepy President Fujimori will have some nice quiet time to ponder his massacres of Peruvian citizens.

[naaman fletcher]

13. What dad wouldn't be happy?

Especially one who is lucky to ever see his guilty daughter alive again.

[Downtown Hound]

18. You're like a little yapping dog on this

Do you have any real information on Lori Berenson other than the tired and long since disproved allegations that you've already made?

[naaman fletcher]

20. Disproved?

Please post info. If so I will gladly apologize.

[Downtown Hound]

21. I already did. See post 16

If you base your entire opinion of her guilt on things like she was renting a house with MRTA members, then I thought a little clarification was in order. So far I haven't heard anything concrete out of you other than a lot of guilt by association and ideology.

[naaman fletcher]

22. Thank you

Gone drinking, will read tomorrow.

[roody]

24. Oh, happy day!