|
Berenson's Parents to Ask Bush for Help VOA News 20 Feb 2002 10:42 UTC 
The parents of an American woman serving a 20-year prison sentence in Peru for aiding terrorists say they will appeal to President Bush to seek her release.
The parents of Lori Berenson say they hope to convince Mr. Bush to discuss the issue with Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo when Mr. Bush visits Lima in March.
On Tuesday Peru's Justice Minister Fernando Olivera ruled out a presidential pardon for the 32-year-old U.S. citizen - one day after Peru's Supreme Court rejected her appeal.
Berenson has already spent six years in prison. The U.S. State Department said it believes she received due process in her failed appeal. Berenson's mother also says she will urge the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica to speed up a review of her case.
Berenson could ask to serve out her term in a U.S. prison, but she has previously refused to do so, saying she considers herself innocent. Berenson also says she is taking part in a hunger strike with hundreds of other inmates to protest prison conditions and Peru's anti-terrorism laws. Berenson was arrested in 1995 and accused of involvement in a failed attempt by the rebel Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement to seize Peru's Congress.
A military tribunal convicted her of terrorism and sentenced her to life in prison. That sentence was overturned and she was retried in a civilian court which acquitted her of being an active member of the rebel group but convicted her of helping the guerrillas plan the attack on the Congress. Berenson has maintained her innocence.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
|