Lori Berenson - Release and Reimprisonment

Release and Reimprisonment

Peru's Justice Minister Victor Garcia Toma on May 3, 2010 stated that "I don't think Lori Berenson can create harm for society, but she has created anger among citizens," and recommended that the remaining five years of her sentence be commuted and that she be expelled from Peru to the U.S., indicating that his recommendation was based on a legal and political analysis of the circumstances.

On May 25, 2010, after serving 15 years, Berenson was granted a conditional release, with the judge stating that she would have to remain in Peru on parole for the remaining five years of her sentence, but would be freed from prison. Berenson's attorneys submitted documents to the court indicating that she "recognized she committed errors" by associating herself with the MRTA. She was freed two days later, a release which attracted a media circus. She was driven to an apartment in the upscale Miraflores area of Lima, where her new neighbors welcomed her by shouting "terrorist" at her. Berenson's parents indicated that she will separate from Apari and raise her son, Salvador as a single mother. Peru's Minister of Justice, Victor Garcia, stated that the Cabinet may commute Berenson's sentence and expel her from the country.

With protesters gathering daily outside her Lima apartment building, lighting candles and demanding that she be deported from Peru, or reimprisoned, Berenson sent a letter to President Alan Garcia admitting her "criminal responsibility for terrorist collaboration" and further writing “I would also like to say that I very much regret the harm I have caused Peruvian society, and I ask forgiveness from people who have been affected by my actions or words.” She then requested that her sentence be commuted so she can return to the United States.

On June 8, 2010, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, speaking while on a visit to Peru, expressed his support for Berenson's release, stating "I'm glad Lori Berenson was released ... when I was president, I worked for that."

Peru’s state attorney for counter-terrorism, Julio Galindo, appealed Berenson's parole, depicting her as a calculating, unrepentant extremist who posed a continuing threat to the Peruvian public. On August 16, 2010 Berenson appeared before the appeals court to request she be allowed to remain free on parole. In responding to Galindo's allegations, she stated that she was not a threat to society:

"... I was sentenced for the crime of collaboration with terrorism, and I did collaborate with the MRTA. I have never been a leader, nor a militant. I have never participated in acts of violence nor of bloodshed, nor have I killed anyone. And what I would like to clarify here is that I know that my mere participation, even though it was secondary in one incident, if it contributed to the violence in society, I am deeply sorry and I regret it ... I was in prison for almost 15 years. I have reflected a great deal over it, and I understand that violence did harm to society; I understand it and I regret that I participated in it. I believe that things, a better society, are achieved by building and not by destroying ...

"Also, I have a different vision of life. It has been almost 15 years. I am now a 40-year-old woman. I left home when I was young. But I have a family who have sacrificed everything for me, and I would like to pay them back somehow. And more than that, I have a child, a 15-month-old son and he is a child I would like to be close to, like any mother. I would like to bring up my son to be a good man. That is now my objective." "

On August 18, 2010 the appeals court annulled Berenson's parole and returned her to prison while technical aspects of the parole were considered.

On November 8, 2010, Berenson was again released on parole.

In January 2011, an appeals court rejected a prosecutor's attempt to revoke her parole. Berenson and her attorney told reporters that the ruling is final and cannot be appealed by prosecutors, ending eight months of legal uncertainty.

Constitutional law expert Mario Amoretti, while agreeing that the ruling should be final, remarked that the state conceivably could file a challenge, claiming some constitutional violation, but he said he didn't see grounds for such an appeal. Berenson must remain in Peru on supervised parole until her 20-year sentence ends in 2015, unless the sentence is commuted by the President. When he was President, Alan Garcia said he would consider a commutation only after the legal case had run its course.

In December 2011, a Peruvian court issued Berenson a three-week travel permit to visit her family in New York City. Authorities at the airport initially blocked her leaving, prompting fresh calls from her lawyer for Peruvian authorities to respect the decision of the Peruvian judiciary. She finally arrived on December 20. After spending Christmas and New Year's Day visiting her parents in New York, she returned to Lima, Peru on January 6, 2012. She remains on parole, still serving her 20-year sentence, which is due to be completed on November 29, 2015, whereupon she will be permitted to leave Peru permanently.