Nearly 80 foreigners petition Peru to serve prison terms in home country

Seventy-nine foreigners locked up in Peruvian jails – mainly on charges of drug trafficking – have petitioned Peru to serve the remainder of their prison terms in their home country, Vice-Minister of Justice Erasmo Reyna said Monday. “We have 79 petitions that are currently being evaluated,” said Reyna in comments to state news agency Andina. [...]

Jailed U.S. citizen Lori Berenson gives birth to baby boy

Lori Berenson, a New York native imprisoned in Peru for collaborating with leftist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) guerrillas, gave birth by cesarean section to a baby boy on Wednesday. The boy, delivered by c-section because of Berenson’s degenerative arthritis of the spine, was named Salvador Anespori Apari Berenson and will have dual U.S. and [...]

President Alan García inaugurates new women’s minimum security prison and announces construction of four additional jails

In an attempt to resolve severe prison overcrowding, Peru’s President Alan García inaugurated a minimum security women’s detention center this week, and said that the Justice Ministry plans the construction of four additional prisons, including a $22 million maximum security jail, in 2009. Approximately 600 women from Chorrillos’ overcrowded Santa Monica prison– where more than [...]