A convicted Peruvian terrorist who last year married Lori Berenson, an American serving a 20-year sentence for aiding leftist rebels, has been granted conjugal visiting rights at her Andean prison. "They gave me permission in late October to visit her two times a month," Anibal Apari told The Associated Press by cell phone from the Andean city of Cajamarca, 350 miles north of Lima, where Berenson is being held.
| "She cut me down to twice a month. Twice a month! I shouldn't complain, two guys I know she cut out completely." |
Apari dismissed a report in the tabloid newspaper Correo on Thursday that Berenson is trying to become pregnant. "We still haven't talked about that," he said, adding that the use of birth control is required by prison authorities.
| Must ... resist ... don't ... ask ... how ... |
Apari was released from prison in June after serving 12 1/2 years of a 15-year sentence. The terms of his parole initially prohibited him from leaving Lima, and his father had to stand in for him at the Oct. 2 prison wedding.
| "Dearly beloved, who gives this groom in ... hey!" |
Berenson, 34, and Apari, 40, met while both were serving sentences for involvement with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. Prior to November, Apari had not seen Berenson since October 1998, when she was transferred to a different prison. Berenson was convicted by a secret military court in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison for being a Marxist scumbag Tupac Amaru leader and plotting a thwarted attack on Peru's Congress. That decision was overturned in 2000. The following year she was convicted in a civilian court on the lesser charge of terrorist collaboration and sentenced to 20 years in prison, including time served. Berenson denies the charges.
| "Lies! All lies! And I want my mommy!" |
Berenson is hoping her conviction will be overturned by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica. Her father, Mark Berenson, told The Associated Press from his home in Manhattan that the case is expected to be heard in early May. Asked whether his daughter wants to start a family, he laughed. "He wants that ... He's 40," Berenson said, referring to Apari. "I would love to be a grandfather, but I don't want to pressure them."
| Don't worry, Gramps, if you live to be 90 you might get your wish. |
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