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TITLE: American to Get Re-Trial in Peru |
AUTHOR: Paul Keller |
PUB: Financial Times |
DATE: March 6, 2001 |
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Peru's caretaker president Valentin Paniagua said on Tuesday that independent judges, free of political interference, would conduct the retrial of Lori Berenson, the young US woman accused as a terrorist collaborator. The autonomy of the courts "is formally guaranteed by the law. There is also a desire among the people that the judicial process is conducted fairly and independently", Mr Paniagua told foreign reporters. "The president has no part in the courts' activities." The civilian trial of Ms Berenson, the 31-year-old New Yorker who faces 20 years in jail, is due to begin on March 20 and is expected to last four to six weeks. Her case has been something of a cause celebré both in the United States and Peru. Ms Berenson's re-trial is seen as a crucial test of Peru's tarnished legal system, which was manipulated by the fugitive ex-spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos during the last decade. Ms Berenson's parents have campaigned on her behalf, protesting that their daughter will not receive a fair trial as the courts remain corrupt and politically biased. Former US president Bill Clinton recently appealed to Peru for a swift and fair resolution to the Berenson case. The American suffered three years in a high-altitude Andean prison before being moved to the high security section of a women's jail in Lima. Conversely, many Peruvians believe the American should not receive special treatment. They say she should face the same punishment as those who were captured during an uncompromising anti-terrorist crackdown in the 1990s when thousands were tried and convicted for their involvement in leftist guerrilla activities. Asked if Ms Berenson would receive a fair trial in such a highly polarised atmosphere, Mr Paniagua said a fair hearing under the most scrupulous conditions was the absolute right of all in Peru, whether they were a Peruvian national or a foreigner. Since Peru does not have a jury system, a three-judge panel will try Ms Berenson. In 1996, a team of hooded military judges sentenced her to life in prison for her involvement in an alleged plot organised by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) to storm congress. Ms Berenson has insisted she is innocent. MRTA was the force behind the bloody, four-month siege of the Japanese ambassador's residence. Former Peru president Alberto Fujimori overturned her sentence last year and ordered a civilian retrial. The surprise move was seen as bid to win favour with Washington and to appease human rights groups who said the draconian measures implemented by the military court had denied Ms Berenson a fair hearing. On the eve of her retrial, state prosecutors are demanding a 20-year sentence for a lesser charge of "terrorist collaboration." Justice Minister Diego Garcia said last week that the trial would start on March 8. But administrative snags appeared to have delayed the start of the trial. Separately Prime Minister Javier Perez de Cuellar, the former UN Secretary General, said Peru was accumulating evidence that it would eventually present to Japan as part of the government's bid to secure the return of Mr Fujimori, who fled to Japan last November. In his absence, Congress declared him "morally unfit" to rule. "We're moving heaven and earth so that Mr Fujimori returns to Peru," Mr Perez de Cuellar said, adding that his personal safety would not be threatened by returning. Regarding the search for the fugitive Mr Montesinos, Mr Perez de Cuellar said all police leads indicated that he was almost certainly still in South America and most likely in the north of the continent - Venezuela remains the most likely location, he said. Peruvian investigators, the FBI and Interpol are hunting Mr Montesinos, who is wanted for crimes ranging from money laundering to organising death squads. END |