The Peruvian Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year prison sentence for Lori Berenson, the U.S. citizen convicted of terrorist collaboration with Marxist rebels.

Presiding Judge Guillermo Cabala made the announcement Monday, confirming the sentence that a civilian court imposed on the 32-year-old New York native last June.

The latest ruling exhausts all avenues of appeal in Peru for Berenson, who was arrested in 1995 following a failed bid by the rebel Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement to take over Peru's Congress.

Berenson was charged with being a member of the group known as the MRTA, then convicted by a hooded military tribunal in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison. That sentence was overturned in August 2000 and a new trial ordered.

In a civilian retrial last June, she was acquitted of being an active member of the group, but convicted of helping the rebels plot the attack on the Congress.

Berenson has maintained her innocence and condemned the Supreme Court's decision. Reports say Berenson's parents have begun a campaign to pressure Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo to grant her a pardon.

Last June, President Bush urged then President-elect Toledo to consider humanitarian concerns in the Berenson case. Mr. Bush is scheduled to visit Peru next month for an official visit.

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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