Lori Berenson, an American citizen, has now been imprisoned in Peru for over 13 years. She is serving a 20-year sentence for having been convicted of associating with a terrorist group known as the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement or MRTA.
I wrote on the 11th anniversary of her imprisonment about the unfairness of both of her trials.
In email yesterday to her supporters, her parents, Mark and Rhoda, announced that Lori had just given birth in prison to a son. Lori was married in 2003 to Anibal Apari Sanchez, who is now a lawyer in Lima.
According to her parents, Lori, who gave birth via Caesarian section due to a chronic back condition, will require spinal surgery to prevent permanent nerve damage. They are rightly concerned about the state of medical care in Peru, particularly in the prison system, and have asked that Lori be released back to the U.S. to undergo the operation and rehabilitation.
Berenson was used as a political football when she was first arrested by Alberto Fujimori on dubious charges in 1995, and was tried, convicted of treason, and sentenced to life in prison by hooded judges. After a second trial, which was still far from fair, the treason charge was thrown out as were charges of membership and militant involvement in MRTA. Her sentence was reduced to 20 years.
She holds leftist views and she has made some ambiguous statements in the past about her support for MRTA. But she has steadfastly maintained her innocence of the charges against her. One reason I believe her is that she probably could have gotten out of prison years ago had she "confessed" to the alleged crimes and said the right things. She refused to do that; and that, to me, lends credence to her contention that she didn't know that the three people she met in the months before she arrived in Peru were MRTA members.
Even if she is guilty of minor involvement with MRTA, it's time to let her go, if only on humanitarian grounds. She obviously poses no threat to the regime in Peru. She will be eligible for parole under Peruvian law late next year, when her son will be 18 months old.
As her parents have noted, it is ironic that Fujimori himself has just been convicted of crimes against humanity, including ordering 25 murders, and has drawn a sentence of 25 years--just five years longer than Berenson's sentence.
In my view, it's time for President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to urge the Garcia regime in Peru to release Berenson. Berenson's parents have suggested that people call the White House Hotline at 202-456-1111. I did: it takes two minutes.