Legal Commentary

Lori Berenson Freed in Peru After 15 Years

By Jeralyn

American Lori Berenson has finally been freed from prison in Peru, after serving 15 years of a 20 year sentence.

Berenson has served 15 years of a 20-year sentence for aiding Peruvian rebels in a 1995 plot to overthrow Peru's congress.

Her release is conditional, meaning she's on parole. So she can't leave the country right away. According to the FreeLori website, maintained by her family, she and her year old son Salvador, whom she had in prison, will be moving to an apartment in Lima.

Lori appeared before the judge in court on Monday, May 17th, for a hearing, defended by her husband, Anibal Apari Sanchez, a Lima lawyer and candidate for Mayor of Villa El Salvador, a suburb of Lima with over a half million inhabitants. Lori will be a single mom - Anibal and Lori are legally separated but remain friends and both share concerns for Salvador's proper upbringing.

Here's an interview with Lori from 2008, describing her arrest and life in prison. Lori's parents, Mark and Rhoda Berenson, worked tirelessly all these years to free Lori. They never gave up. What wonderful news, so long overdue, for all of them.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 25, 2010 (boomark / email).