American woman appeals sentence for terrorist plot

LIMA, Peru -- Imprisoned American Lori Berenson asked Peru's highest appeals court on Tuesday to overturn her 20-year prison term for collaborating with leftist rebels in a plot to seize Peru's Congress.

Berenson's defense attorney, Jose Luis Sandoval, made the plea before a five-judge panel of the Supreme Court that handles appeals. Berenson, 32, of New York was not present.

Presiding Justice Guillermo Cabala adjourned the hearing after brief arguments from Sandoval and prosecuting attorney Ysaias Tamayo.

The court has up to 15 working days to reach a decision.

Berenson considers herself a political prisoner and has said that authorities unfairly portrayed her concern for social justice for the poor as a terrorist agenda.

Prosecutors, however, say she was a terrorist who aided the leftist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement guerrilla group in a thwarted bid to attack Peru's Congress in 1995.

A secret military tribunal in 1996 sentenced Berenson to life in prison without parole on charges she was a rebel leader. But a higher military tribunal overturned the ruling in August 2000 and sent the case to a civilian anti-terrorism court.