|
Lori Helene Berenson (born November 13, 1969) is an American convicted in Peru in 1996 of unlawful collaboration with the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), a group which had tried to overthrow the Peruvian government by force and which was and is considered a terrorist organization by the Peruvian government. The MRTA was designated on the official "terrorist organization" list of the U.S. State Department during the years 1997-2001.〔(Peru 2010 Crime & Safety Report )〕〔(Mrta: What Does It Mean Today?, leaked diplomatic cable from U.S. Embassy in Peru on Friday May 30, 2008 )〕 Her arrest and conviction, and the circumstances of her trials, provoked considerable attention in the United States and in Peru. After securing press credentials for herself and a photographer, visiting Peru's Congress to interview some of its members and attend sessions where she took notes and sketched a seating plan, Berenson was arrested on a public bus〔(Guilt, repentance and innocence: Lori Berenson and her baby might be going back to prison ) 〕 along with the photographer. Her photographer turned out to be the wife of a top MRTA leader, a fact Berenson stated she was unaware of at that time. The MRTA is alleged to have intended to use the information to seize lawmakers and exchange the hostages for imprisoned MRTA members. The house she rented in Lima was found to contain an arsenal of weapons and ammunition, together with armed guerrillas who violently resisted capture. She denied knowing of the presence of the weaponry or guerillas, or that the documents she prepared would be used for terrorism. In 2011 she admitted that she had known her associates were MRTA members and said: “It might not have been intentional, but the bottom line is: I did collaborate with them." In the same interview she maintained that she had not been aware that weapons were being amassed in the upper floors of her house which she had sublet to the MRTA members, or that violent actions were being planned at the Congress, stating that “at that time in Fujimori’s dictatorship, Congress was the only place that there was some sort of democratic process.” Shortly after arrest, she made an angry statement, alleging that the MRTA was not a terrorist group, but was a revolutionary movement—a statement which caused great animosity towards her by many Peruvians. After she was tried in 1996 by a military tribunal with a hooded judge and sentenced to life imprisonment, Berenson became "a cause celebre for human rights campaigners and a symbol for leftwing social activists around the world." Although publicly known judges had previously been killed in Peru by the MRTA, other elements of her trial were considered to be violations of human rights and to lack in impartiality, provoking controversy in the United States and other countries. In particular, she was allegedly denied the right to examine the government's evidence and witnesses. She was convicted of treason and sentenced to life without parole. In 2000, following a change of government in Peru, her conviction was overturned and she received a new trial. She was found guilty of collaboration with terrorism and sentenced to 20 years of prison. She served 15 years, and was granted conditional release in May 2010. In August 2010 an appeals court ordered that Berenson be arrested and made to serve out the remainder of her sentence. On November 5, 2010, a Peruvian judge ordered she be released from prison. While on parole, she was made to remain in Peru until her sentence ended. In December 2015, after completing her sentence, Berenson announced she is returning to New York to live with her family. == Early life and education == Berenson was born and raised in New York City to Rhoda and Mark Berenson, both college professors. After graduating from LaGuardia High School of Music and Art, she enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the fall of 1987.〔http://web.mit.edu/hemisphere/berenson/〕〔http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/05/i-am-not-a-terrorist/〕 On her web site, she states that she volunteered for soup kitchens and blood banks and also worked as a mother's helper in the Hamptons as a teenager. While an undergraduate at MIT, she volunteered with the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). She dropped out of MIT〔http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Media/lori-berenson-prisoner-15-years-released-peru-child/story?id=10747575〕 and continued to volunteer for CISPES. Later, she went to El Salvador and became secretary and translator for Leonel González, a leader of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), during negotiations that achieved peace in 1992. FMLN was at that time an umbrella organization associated with various leftist guerrilla organizations and the Salvadoran Communist Party and working to overthrow the Salvadoran military dictatorship. FMLN transitioned during the peace process to a become a legal political party. González (aka Salvador Sánchez Cerén) is currently the President of El Salvador. After political reconciliation came to El Salvador, Berenson moved to Peru. During her travels and political activities, she claims she was supported by a trust fund established for her by her parents. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lori Berenson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|