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News :: Miscellaneous |
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BTL:Lori Berenson, Serving 20-year Prison Sentence in Peru... |
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by Between The Lines' Denise Manzari
Email: betweenthelines (nospam) snet.net (unverified!)
Address: © 2002 Between the Lines C/O WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, Connecticut USA. |
24 Aug 2002
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...Continues Her Fight to Overturn Terrorism Charge. Lori Berenson's father Mark Berenson spoke with Between The Lines' Denise Manzari about his hope that a verdict from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights decision will assist in securing his daughter's freedom. |
Lori Berenson, Serving 20-year Prison Sentence in Peru, Continues Her Fight to Overturn Terrorism Charge
Interview with Mark Berenson, father of Lori Berenson, imprisoned in Peru,
conducted by Denise Manzari.
In 1995, Lori Berenson, a U.S. citizen living in Peru, was arrested, convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison for her alleged collaboration with the leftist Tupac Amaru Guerilla group.
After Peru's highest military court overturned Berenson's original conviction and nullified her sentence, she was accorded a civilian trial in 2001 that found her guilty of "collaborating with terrorists." This charge carried a sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $28 million U.S. dollars in civil damages.
But the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights recently ruled that neither Berenson's military or civilan trial provided due process and that the terrorism laws under which she was tried twice and imprisoned for nearly seven years were illegal.
On July 16, at a Washington press conference, former Peruvian Minister of Justice Fernando Olivera declared that for Lori Berenson, there will be "no pardon, no commutation." Peru has since challenged the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights ruling in favor of suing the commission in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
After the Peruvian Supreme Court denied Berenson's appeal in February of this year, her only hope for release is a presidential pardon, which would be unpopular among Peru's military and government officials. Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo thus far has refused to grant a pardon.
Lori Berenson's father Mark Berenson spoke with Between The Lines' Denise Manzari about his hope that a verdict from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights decision will assist in securing his daughter's freedom.
Lori Berenson remains in the Huacariz Prison in the northern Andes. Contact Lori's supporters by calling (202) 548-8480 or visit their Web site at www.freelori.org
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