Friday, November 5, 2010

Peru: Lori Berenson released…again

Convicted rebel ally Lori Berenson was freed on parole by a Peruvian judge. This may sound like déjà vu but it’s not:
A Peruvian court Friday granted freedom to U.S. citizen Lori Berenson, who has served 15 years of a 20-year prison sentence for collaborating with leftist insurgents.

Berenson, who will turn 41 next week, was initially freed in May but sent back to jail in August when a panel of judges ruled the release of the American was flawed because police had failed to confirm where she would be living in Lima while on parole.
It’s unknown if Berenson, a U.S. citizen who gave birth to a child while jailed last year, will again petition to leave Peru and return to the U.S. Peruvian president Alan Garcia did admit in a September interview that she was “not a threat” to his country and seemed inclined to have her leave. The same may not be said for most Peruvians who “widely disapproved of the decision to release her” according to polls cited by BBC News.

Image- CBS News (“U.S. activist Lori Berenson attends her hearing at court in Lima, Peru, Monday Aug. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia).”)
Online Sources- BBC News, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Gothamist

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