PERU - Lori Berensen sentenced to 20 years

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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/172/world/Lori_Berenson_20_year_sentence:.shtml

Lori Berenson: 20-year sentence for aiding Peru's rebels `unjust'

By Bill Cormier, Associated Press, 6/21/2001 04:45

LIMA, Peru (AP) Lori Berenson, an American held for five years in Andean prisons, was convicted in a civilian retrial of collaborating with leftist guerrillas and sentenced to 20 years, a maximum punishment that she denounced as ''unjust.''

Counting time served, Berenson is to be released in November 2015, then expelled from Peru. Her father, Mark Berenson, restrained by an American rabbi after the verdict, shouted, ''No justice! No justice!''

Berenson, 31, of New York City, stood ramrod straight for nearly four hours Wednesday evening as the sentence was read in the drab prison courtroom. She sat only briefly, as the three magistrates said they found ''convincing evidence'' she had helped the deadly Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA, in a thwarted plot to seize Peru's Congress in 1995.

A former Massachusetts Institute of Technology student, Berenson was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 by a secret military tribunal on charges of treason. She was tried as a rebel leader.

After years of pressure from the United States, Peru's top military court overturned her conviction in August, paving the way for the new civilian trial on a lesser charge of ''terrorist collaboration.''

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy noted that the new trial gave Berenson a chance to defend herself, but said it would have no further comment because the case was being appealed.

''I consider this an unjust sentence and I am innocent of the charges against me,'' said Berenson, asking that the sentence be struck down when lead magistrate Marcos Ibazeta gave her a chance to respond.

Earlier, in her closing statement, Berenson declared, ''I am not a terrorist. I condemn terrorism.'' She also denied being a member or collaborator of the rebel group.

The Tupac Amaru took up arms in 1984, at a time when Peru was besieged by near-daily car bombings, assassinations and shootouts between leftist insurgents and security forces.

Named for an Inca ruler who led a revolt against Spanish colonists in the 1730s, the Tupac Amaru has been blamed for about 200 deaths. It was overshadowed by the larger Maoist Shining Path insurgency.

The group, now all but defeated, used kidnapping, extortion and protection money from drug traffickers to finance its operations. It gained international attention for its four-month hostage siege at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima in 1997.

The insurgencies remain a painful memory for many Peruvians, who had little sympathy for Berenson.

In accepting the prosecution's recommended 20-year sentence, the court ruled that Berenson aided the Tupac Amaru by renting a house that served as their hide-out and posing as a journalist to enter Congress to gather intelligence with a top rebel commander's wife.

''Everything leads to the conclusion that the accused ... was not a mere spectator. Nor was she distant from what was occurring around her in relation to the activities of the MRTA,'' the verdict said.

Justice Minister Diego Garcia Sayan said earlier this week that the government would respect the verdict and that Berenson would serve out any sentence in Peru, so for now a presidential pardon seems unlikely.

President-elect Alejandro Toledo, who takes office July 28, is to travel next week to the United States in search of economic aid. His spokesman said he had no immediate comment on the case, but it could come up during his stops in New York and Washington.

A Supreme Court appeal will take up to six months, Rhoda Berenson said from the apartment she and her husband rented during her daughter's trial.

Peru hoped the Berenson retrial would show how its justice system has improved since President Alberto Fujimori was ousted in November.

Fujimori declared emergency rule in the early 1990s to fight then-powerful leftist guerrillas. He set up a system of hooded military judges who dished out tough sentences to suspected guerrillas in trials widely criticized for lacking due process.

The government claimed the anonymity of judges was necessary to protect them against reprisals from rebel groups. Berenson was tried in one of those courts after her arrest in November of 1995.

Security forces seized the Tupac Amaru safehouse after an 11-hour shootout, capturing 14 presumed guerrillas and evidence of Berenson's alleged involvement, including a floor plan of Congress that authorities said she sketched.

Berenson and a rebel leader's wife were arrested hours before a military assault on the hide-out, leaving three rebels and one police officer dead.

Berenson has acknowledged renting the house, but said she did not know her housemates were rebels. She came to Peru in late 1994, after working as a secretary to a rebel leader during peace talks that ended El Salvador's civil war in 1992.

Accredited by two left-leaning U.S. magazines but never published, Berenson insists she was researching articles about women and poverty.

Berenson said Wednesday that she was used by Fujimori as a ''smoke screen'' to make himself appear tough on terrorism.

''They used me as a symbol of political violence and of terrorism for more than five years,'' she said. ''I did not deserve this type of label.''

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/172/world/Chronology_of_events_in_Bere ns:.shtml

Chronology of events in Berenson case

By Associated Press, 6/21/2001 01:24

Events leading up to Lori Berenson's conviction in a civilian retrial for alleged involvement in the 1995 plot by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA, to seize Peru's Congress. Berenson denies all charges.

November 1994: Berenson arrives in Peru with Pacifico Castrellon, a Panamanian who she says she met by chance in an art gallery in Panama City. Castrellon would claim their trip was arranged by the rebels.

August 1995: Berenson moves out of the house she rented months earlier with Castrellon and into an apartment. Berenson continues to visit the house, but later denies any knowledge that hidden on the top floor were more than a dozen guerrillas and a stockpile of some 8,000 rounds of ammunition and thousands of sticks of dynamite.

Nov. 30, 1995: Berenson is arrested on a bus with the wife of MRTA leader Nestor Cerpa, Nancy Gilvonio, after they leave Peru's Congress. Berenson contends she hired Gilvonio, whose real identity she did not know, as a photographer for articles she planned to write.

Dec. 1, 1995: An 11-hour siege on a MRTA safehouse by security forces ends. A coded floor plan of Congress allegedly sketched by Berenson and a forged Peruvian election ID card bearing her photo are among the evidence seized.

Jan. 8, 1996: Berenson is presented to Peru's media. She angrily shouts, ''There are no criminal terrorists in the MRTA. It is a revolutionary movement.''

Jan. 11, 1996: A secret military court convicts Berenson of treason and sentences her to life in prison without parole.

Dec. 17, 1996: Thirteen Tupac Amaru rebels, led by Cerpa, storm the Japanese ambassador's residence during a social event and 72 hostages are held for 126 days. Among the rebels' demands is the release of 20 imprisoned people, including Berenson.

Aug. 28, 2000: After years of pressure from the United States, Peru's top military court announces it has overturned Berenson's sentence, paving the way for a new trial in civilian court.

March 20, 2001: Berenson's retrial on lesser charges of ''terrorist collaboration'' and ''illicit association'' begins.

June 20, 2001: Berenson convicted and sentenced to 20 years for collaborating with rebels, but acquitted of being active rebel militant. Her five years in prison count toward the total.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001


http://www.boston.com/dailynews/171/world/LIMA_every_case_There_is_lit tl:.shtml

By Associated Press, 6/20/2001 22:20

There is little sympathy for Berenson in Peru, which still remembers the bloody war against leftist rebels that wound down in the early 1990s.

Justice Minister Diego Garcia Sayan said earlier that the government would respect the verdict and that Berenson would serve out any sentence in Peru dimming hopes that she could receive a presidential pardon even if she is convicted.

A spokesman for President-elect Alejandro Toledo, who takes office July 28, said he had no immediate comment on whether he might consider a pardon. But the spokesman said Toledo might discuss the matter on a trip to the United States next week to seek economic aid.

Berenson has served more than five years in Andean jails after the military convicted her for allegedly plotting a thwarted raid on Congress by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA. That conviction was annulled in August and a new trial ordered.

Wednesday's proceeding capped a high-profile trial in which Berenson adamantly proclaimed her innocence and criticized Peru's judicial system.

Prior to her statement, Berenson was led into the courtroom in San Juan de Lurigancho prison, flanked by two female guards in bulletproof vests. She wore a beige jacket and a gray turtleneck, with wire-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. Journalists and her supporters filled the room.

After Berenson's 45-minute closing statement, Mark Berenson flashed a peace sign with his fingers and said he believed in his daughter's innocence.

''She loves Peru, she loves justice. If there is justice in this country, this court will acquit her,'' he said.

Mark Berenson and wife Rhoda, who both attended the hearing, have fought a long battle to free their daughter. They have made powerful allies in the U.S. Congress.

Peru had hoped Berenson's retrial would showcase how much its justice system has improved since the end of President Alberto Fujimori's 10- year autocratic rule in November.

Fujimori declared emergency rule in the early 1990s to fight powerful leftist guerrillas. He set up a system of hooded military judges who dished out tough sentences to suspected guerrillas in trials widely criticized as lacking due process. The government claimed the anonymity of judges was necessary to protect them against reprisals from rebel groups.

Berenson said she was used by Fujimori as a ''smoke screen'' to make himself appear tough on terrorism.

''They used me as a symbol of political violence and of terrorism for more than five years,'' she said Wednesday. ''I did not deserve this type of label.''

Berenson complained that the civilian court was still applying the same draconian anti-terrorism laws decreed by Fujimori in 1992.

''This is a political trial,'' Berenson said. ''Where is the presumption of innocence?''

Peruvian prosecutors argued that there was solid evidence of her guilt.

Berenson arrived in Peru after working as a personal secretary to a Salvadoran rebel leader during peace negotiations that ended El Salvador's civil war in 1992. She has described herself as a social activist caught up in circumstances beyond her control.

Much of the prosecution's case rested on testimony from Pacifico Castrellon, a Panamanian who came to Peru with Berenson in late 1994.

Castrellon testified that he and Berenson met with, and took cash from, MRTA leaders in Ecuador before settling in Lima several weeks later. He said one of the contacts was Nestor Cerpa, the top MRTA commander.

Berenson, who denied the meeting ever took place, has acknowledged that she and Castrellon rented the house used by MRTA guerrillas as a hide-out. But she said she did not know her housemates were rebels.

Prosecutors say Berenson posed as a journalist to enter Peru's legislature several times in 1995 to gather information. She was accompanied by Cerpa's wife, who acted as her photographer. Berenson, who was accredited by two left-leaning U.S. magazines but never published, insists she was researching articles about women and poverty.

Berenson and Cerpa's wife were arrested hours before a military assault on a rebel safehouse that left three rebels and one police officer dead.

Police say rebels had moved into the top floor of the house, where they were creating a plan to seize Congress and hold the members hostage in exchange for imprisoned comrades.

Berenson moved out of the house three months before her arrest and said she knew nothing about activities on the top floor of the house, where police discovered 8,000 rounds of ammunition and dynamite.

Other evidence allegedly seized from the house included a coded floor plan of Congress allegedly scrawled by Berenson. There was also a forged Peruvian election ID card bearing her photo. She suggested they were planted by police.

The MRTA is named for an Inca ruler who led an Indian revolt against the Spanish colonists in the 1730s. The group is blamed for the deaths of some 200 people since it took up arms in 1984.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001


http://www.boston.com/dailynews/171/world/Excerpts_from_Lori_Berenson_ s_:.shtml

Excerpts from Lori Berenson's closing statement

By Associated Press, 6/20/2001 19:08

Excerpts from the closing statement Lori Berenson read to a Peruvian court Wednesday, prior to her conviction for collaborating with leftist rebels:

''I am innocent of all charges against me. Neither of my trials, in the civilian or military court, has proven me guilty of any crime. The charges against me are still based upon the hearsay of a fellow detainee who is trying to be freed at my expense.''

''When on March 20 I said my case has been used as a smoke screen, that it is a political trial, it is because of the particular elements regarding my case and also, in general, the cases of all those detained and tried in the context of political violence. There is a very simple reason: the existence of insurgent or rebel movements in Latin America and many other places in the world has a lot to do with social and economic conditions. The government responds through state policy, albeit solely militarily or with other components, to draw attention from these conditions.''

''I am aware that much of the Peruvian public has a very negative image of me, which in part is because of the anger I expressed, how aggressive I came across, when I was illegally presented to the press in January 1996. And I am aware how that image and those statements were manipulated to create a monster larger than life, so that later I personified 20 years of insurgent and state violence. This was part of the propaganda designed to make people forget how government policy and corruption impoverished the Peruvian people.''

''I regret having come across as such an angry or aggressive person, especially if it confused or offended the Peruvian people whom I really respect and love.''

''Yes, I jointly rented a house with another person, but I did not do so with the idea or intent of doing so for the MRTA and there is no evidence to the contrary.''

''I did not come to Peru to cause any harm. I was and am interested in Peru's history and Peru's future. The reason I wanted to write articles about Peru was precisely because I thought it was very important that people in the United States and elsewhere know more about Peru.''

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001


Does anyone think she could have a future in Brooklyn selling bridges?

I wouldn't mind reading the actual testimony, as we have done with the election in Florida last year, but I don't think they have that type of thing on the net in Peru.

Now, what odds would you give on the new Peruvian president getting any economic aid from the US? 80%?

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001


NatRev

Jonah Goldberg

June 22, 2001

Rebel get indignant without cause

I'm a big believer that some people are "asking for trouble." When stunt skydivers die, I admit, I feel less sorrow than when kids get hurt in a car accident. When snake-handlers get bitten by poisonous vipers, I'll often say, "Well, you know, that (ital) does (end ital) happen sometimes to people who handle snakes for a living." And, when a young woman decides to play Marxist terrorist in war torn South American countries, I don't get too worked up when she gets thrown in jail.

I felt that way when Lori Berenson was sentenced to prison in 1996, and I felt that way this week when she was retried and sent back to jail.

Let's recap for a moment. Berenson was a classic "sandal-ista": the sort of earnest hippy-activist hybrid who, giddy with '60s nostalgia, went weak-kneed for Spanish-accented Marxists. She dropped out of MIT in the 1980s to bum around South America with lefty and Communist-backed groups in El Salvador and Nicaragua.

After the formerly Soviet-backed Sandinistas were democratically defeated at the polls, Berenson decided she needed real revolutionary action to soothe her disappointment. So, she moved to Peru looking for action - and she found it.

On Nov. 30, 1995, squads from the Peruvian national police stormed Berenson's home in the suburbs outside of Lima. She insists that the house was a "school for political thinking." This is a bit odd since the police could only gain access to this "school" after a 12-hour shootout, killing two terrorists and one police officer. Once inside, the police found 8,000 rounds of ammunition, 3,000 sticks of dynamite, some uniforms belonging to the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (known by its Spanish acronym, MRTA).

Oddly, few conventional school supplies were found.

Until Peru's bloody war on terrorism ended a few years ago, the Tupac Amaru was one of the world's most notoriously savage terrorist outfits. Which is why the police found it relevant that more than a dozen members of the MRTA, including its second-highest official, were living in Berenson's house.

The police also found a hand-drawn seating chart of the Peruvian Congress and a detailed escape plan in the event of an assault on the safe house. The Peruvian government says these documents are in Berenson's handwriting. Prosecutors also say Berenson used bogus journalist credentials to case the Peruvian Congress as part of a scheme to take dozens of legislators hostage, so the MRTA could exchange them for jailed fellow terrorists.

At Berenson's military trial in 1996, her lawyer (who has represented some 100 other members of the terrorist group Berenson denies membership in) conceded that Berenson was a "collaborator" with the Tupac Amaru but by no means was she a "leader" of the group. The tribunal, which wore hoods over their faces to avoid terrorist retaliations - much to the annoyance of American civil libertarians, found her guilty.

Prior to her sentencing, Berenson delivered an angry assault on the Peruvian government, simultaneously claming the Tupac Amaru were a "non-violent group" on the one hand while vowing she would "never" wane in her support for the "revolutionary movement" on the other. Incapable of outgrowing the penchant for melodrama that prompted her to drop out of college in the first place, Berenson insisted that she was being punished "for concerning myself with the situation of hunger and misery in this country." Perhaps it was this less than complete contrition that spurred the court to give her a life sentence.

Understandably, Berenson's defenders rarely address whether she's actually guilty. Indeed, it's hard to understand how a woman completely fluent not just in Spanish but in the argot of fringe left-wing revolutionary politics could be clueless enough not to notice dozens of hulking Peruvian terrorists traipsing through her house. Berenson has claimed, according to The Washington Post, that "cultural idiosyncrasies" kept her from prying into what the guys upstairs were doing with 8,000 rounds of ammunition and 3,000 sticks of dynamite.

Nevertheless, she is a cult hero among the sort of people who think expensive lithographs of Che Guevara are chic. In 1999, 200 congressmen even signed a letter demanding that President Clinton "take all necessary steps, short of going to war" to free Berenson. The New York Times, various celebrities and intellectuals and the usual human rights groups have tried to make the rough justice of the Peruvian legal system the issue.

The irony here is that these are also the same folks who usually whine every time America "imperialistically" throws its weight around the world.

Regardless, Peru finally relented, agreeing to retry the unrepentant radical in a civilian court. This week, to no one's surprise, they found her guilty again. But they did reduce her sentence to 20 years, minus the five she's already served.

Be assured: We'll hear more lamentations about how this "prisoner of conscience" didn't get a fair shake. And, maybe, according to our notions of due process, she didn't. But that's not the same thing as saying she didn't get into precisely the sort of trouble she went looking for.

Jonah Goldberg is editor of National Review Online, a TownHall.com member group.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2001



I knew someone who, about 15 or 20 years ago, was doing animal rescue work somewhere in South America. I remember him saying what a shame it was that the U.S. State Department or such, wouldn't let Americans go to Peru, there was too much political unrest. At the time, the prohibition sounded more politically motivated than anything, but it did make me wonder.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2001

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