Biography
U.S. activist arrested in Lima, Peru in 1995 and convicted by a hooded military tribunal of treason for alleged collaboration with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). After international pressure, her conviction was overturned and she was retried in civilian court in 2001 on the lesser charge of collaboration with terrorism, receiving a 20-year sentence. Granted parole in 2010; completed her sentence and returned to the United States in December 2015.
Birth-date sources
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Berenson-Mejía v. Peru — the court’s findings state that Lori Berenson was born on November 13, 1969.
- Loyola Law School Inter-American Court case summary — independently transcribes the same date and cites paragraph 88(77) of the judgment.
Distinct custody phases verified October 13, 2026: The original Inter-American Court judgment, pages 2, 34 and 56 visually reviewed, establishes November 30, 1995 detention and the June 20, 2001 civilian sentence. ABC's on-the-day account documents physical departure May 27, 2010. AP reports August 18 surrender. AP reports actual November 8 departure. These prison endpoints replace the misleading December 2015 return-to-U.S. endpoint. The two phases are separate; the later executed admission day remains unresolved. November 5 was the parole ruling, not the physical departure reported on November 8.
