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American activist wins new trial in Peru

Berenson, who has been jailed in Peru since her arrest in 1995, was accused of treason and aiding a plot to commit a terrorist act on the Peruvian Congress

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An American activist serving a life sentence in Peru for treason has been granted a new trial.

Peruvian officials announced Monday that a military court voided Lori Berenson's 1996 conviction, clearing the way for a new trial in civil court in Peru.

A secret tribunal found Berenson, 30, guilty of conspiring with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement in a failed plot to attack Peru's congress.

Berenson worked as a freelance journalist and Peruvian authorities say she used her press credentials to gain entry into Congress to stake out the building's layout under the guise of interviewing legislators.

After her arrest in 1995, Berenson accompanied police to a rebel hideout and identified the rooms she was familiar with. Her mother told The Associated Press that Berenson did not know the building was a rebel safe house filled with weapons.

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In a news conference Monday, Berenson's parents said their daughter's only connection to the Tupac Amaru was that she felt deep sadness about the poverty she had seen in Peru.

Mark and Rhoda Berenson said there is no reason for Peru to continue to hold her.

"Due process requires that after four years and nine months without a proper trial, Lori Berenson must be released," said her father, Mark Berenson. "It is not possible for Lori to have a fair trial in Peru under present conditions."

Rhoda Berenson, Lori's mother, said they were not told what will happen next. "We haven't been given details. Certainly, she's still going to be in prison, that we know. We don't know any time schedule.

"We don't even know for certain if the civilian courts have said (that) there is enough evidence to try her. We know they don't have any, but are they even going to say they do?"

Mrs. Berenson said Lori has suffered physically while in prison. "She spent two-and-a-half years very high up in the Andes ... Those years had a devastating effect on her health."

Mrs. Berenson said Lori "knew the truth would come out some day, and that's what kept her going."

According to the U.S. State Department, the Peruvian government remanded the case back to civil court after recognizing that the military court overstepped its jurisdiction by putting Berenson on trial as the leader of a terrorist organization, rather than merely being associated with the group.

"The military court was improperly used," a senior State Department official told CNN.

The Peruvian government insists that Berenson was given a fair trial and that it only started holding terrorist trials in secret after rebel groups threatened judges and their families.

However, a Peruvian official told CNN that because military court trials are conducted in secret, "people do not have faith in the system." He added that the civil court is much more open. "It is a good opportunity," he said.

The Tupac Amaru is best known for its daring 1996 raid on the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, which led to a four-month hostage drama. The rebels seized more than 500 people, but had released all but 72 hostages before Peruvian commandos stormed the compound in April, 1997, killing all 14 rebels.

One of the group's demands was for Peru to release 465 jailed members in the group.

Peru says that over the course of the negotiations Tupac Amaru leader Nestor Cerpa shrunk his list to 20 prisoners, including Berenson.

CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott, CNN National Correspondent Gary Tuchman, CNN.com writer Jonathan D. Austin and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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The Lori Berenson Case

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