For Immediate Release, Monday, August 28, 2000
Contact: Ken Campbell
Phone: 617-253-2703
Email: kdc@mit.edu
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Charles Vest, the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today welcomed the news about former MIT student Lori Berenson.
The university statement, issued by the MIT News Office, said, "Charles Vest, the president of MIT, is extremely pleased at the news that Peruvian authorities reportedly have revoked Lori Berenson's life sentence and ordered a new trial in a civilian court.
"Dr. Vest said, "We hope that she is freed on bail while she awaits trial, or at least is moved to a less isolated prison where the conditions are more humane and she has greater access to her family and attorneys."
Ms. Berenson was a sophomore, studying anthropology and archaeology when she decided in 1988 to leave MIT to go to El Salvador. She moved to Peru in the early 1990s.