Berensons Defend Their Daughter
48 Hours aired an exclusive interview Oct. 19, with Lori Berenson, an American currently serving a life sentence in Peru for treason.
Berenson was convicted by a secret military tribunal in 1996, but is scheduled to be tried again in a civilian court in the next few weeks. Her parents Rhoda and Mark Berenson reacted to the interview on The Early Show and had a vigorous debate with Anchor Bryant Gumbel.
Since their daughter's arrest, the Berensons have put their lives on hold. They have left their jobs as college professors to lobby public officials and the media to fight for the release of their youngest daughter.
"I thought Lori looked terrific," declared a proud Rhoda Berenson. "I thought she did amazingly after five years, never had done an interview before, very resilient and yet was able to speak about her compassion. She spoke how she's concerned about social issues, about people eating."
She said a lot of yes and nos, the mother observed. "I was waiting for her to explain more. She certainly didn't surprise me by saying I don't believe in terrorism, I'm definitely not a terrorist, I don't believe in violence. Those are things she's been saying all along."
|
When asked about here daughter's continued unwillingness to dennounce the guerrilla organization MRTA, Rhoda Berenson responded, "Aside from explaining it, how does anyone explain that a reporter goes in and says, 'Lori, are you willing to denounce the people who you're living with right now?'"
"Is there a Peruvian witness protection program that they were going to put her in? I was actually very frightened then," said her moter.
"I don't know why she answered that. But I know that I was very upset at the thought of anyone asking that question," said Rhoda Berenson.
Do they think that was a fair question for Correspondent Peter Vant Sant to ask?
"CBS told us that they wouldn't ask her a question relating to her case," declared Mark Berenson. "You know, a trial is going on. and Peru set this up by allowing CBS to interview Lori when Lori has not been allowed to be interviewed five years."
Is it because Alberto Fujimori is looking to wash his hands of this, to find an easy way out?
 CBS |
| Father Mark Berenson |
"I don't know he's looking for an easy way out when Fujimori himself said Lori's going to get 20, 30 years before she even had her trial start," declared Mark Berenson, adding that he picked the judge and there's no jury.
Mark Berenson asserted that the justice system is considered one of the worst in the Western Hemisphere, outside of Cuba. "They rank Peru as equal to Cuba in their justice system."
Gumbel then asked the parents if they would like her to renounce the MRTA if it got her a lesser sentence?
"Renouncing means she once supported them and no longer supports them. But denouncing is I think what you're looking for," said Rhoda Berenson. "I think that would be up to Lori to decide."
"Would you denounce your own beliefs at any time or renounce/denounce your principles?" Mark Berenson asked the anchor.
Gumbel asserted that in this case there's no one denying that the MRTA is a terrorist organization.
"What is a terrorist organization?" asked Mark Berenson, who then borrowed from Gov. George W. Bush's phrase book. "The State Department calls the MRTA a terrorist organization, but the State Department does things politically. The MRTA has certinly committed terrorist acts. But the classification is fuzzy, fuzzy math. This is fuzzy classifications by our State Department."
"The Peruvian government is illegitimate," the father declared. "The president who won, ran and violated his own constitution, actually lost the election."
"It violates freedom of speech, expression," he continued. "They had the Peruvians taping this interview because they didn't allow CBS privacy on this."
Would they like to see Lori Berenson take advantage of the Peruvian repentance law?
"No. The repentence law means you turn in somebody else," said Rhoda Berenson.
The people she cited as her friends seem willing to turn on her, Gumbel observed.
She didn't cite anyone as her friends, said Rhoda Berenson. "The present testimony that's going forth has at least a dozen people who have said that they never saw Lori Berenson before they came to prison. These were not her friends," said Rhoda Berenson.
What is their response to Peter Van Sant's report that 48 Hours has a source that said the MRTA used Lori Berenson for intelligence gathering.
"This was an anonymous source who quoted a dead man," Rhoda Berenson responded. "Do you want me to quote something about you from that?"
"A high-ranking Peruvian official sent us an email saying that that same source Nestor Cerpas said Lori Berenson was never involved with the MRTA," said Mark Berenson.