American Convicted in Peru
L I M A, Peru, June 21 -- American Lori Berenson was convicted andsentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday for collaborating withleftist guerrillas in a thwarted plot to seize Peru's Congress.
A civilian terrorism court found the 31-year-old New York nativeguilty of "terrorist collaboration" with the Tupac AmaruRevolutionary Movement, or MRTA, but acquitted her of charges thatshe was an active rebel militant. "Everything leads to the conclusion that the accused LoriBerenson Mejia was not a mere spectator," the judges said in averdict, read for nearly four hours by a court clerk. "Nor was she distant from what was occurring around her inrelation to the activities of the MRTA," the verdict said, addingthe case showed "an express and voluntary collaboration." The proceedings were carried live on Peru's cable news stationCanal N, reflecting widespread local interest in the case.
Court: Berenson Aided Rebels
In accepting the prosecution's recommended 20-year-sentence, thecourt ruled that Berenson aided the group by renting a house thatserved as their hideout and posing as a journalist to enterCongress to gather intelligence with a top rebel commander's wife. Presiding Magistrate Marcos Ibazeta told Berenson if she had anyquestions or comments. "I consider this an unjust sentence and I am innocent of thecharges against me," she said, requesting that the sentence benullified. The verdict came five hours after Berenson, a formerMassachusetts Institute of Technology student, said in her closingstatement: "I am not a terrorist." "I am innocent of the prosecutor's charges of being a member ofand a collaborator with the MRTA," she said. "I am not aterrorist. I condemn terrorism, and I say that in every case."
Little Sympathy in Peru
There is little sympathy for Berenson in Peru, which stillremembers the bloody war against leftist rebels that wound down inthe early 1990s. Justice Minister Diego Garcia Sayan said earlier that thegovernment would respect the verdict and that Berenson would serveout any sentence in Peru — dimming hopes that she could receive apresidential pardon even if she is convicted.
