LIMA, Peru (Reuters) --Peru's top court will hear the appeal of Lori Berenson, a U.S.
woman sentenced to 20 years in jail on terrorism charges and one of Peru's most high
profile prisoners, on Tuesday, officials said.

A court official said on Monday the Supreme Court would hear Berenson's appeal at
8:00 a.m. local time 8 a.m. EDT/ (1300 GMT) on Tuesday and could confirm the
sentence, reduce it, annul it and order a retrial or free her. Under new rules, the
court cannot increase her sentence.

Berenson, 32, was jailed for life in a 1996 military trial as a leader of the leftist Tupac
Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). A civil retrial last June found her guilty of
helping the MRTA plot an attack on Congress and handed her a 20-year term. She is
due to be released just after her 46th birthday.

Berenson, who was shifted last month to a jail in northern Peru for what officials
called disciplinary reasons, will not be in Lima for the appeal.

A ruling is expected "tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest," one judicial source said.

"Although Lori's lawyer will only have five minutes to present his case, we hope that
the appeal will be looked at carefully and that the court will conclude, as we know,
that Lori is innocent of the charges," her parents said in a statement.

    Copyright 2002 Reuters.