Link
By CARLA SALAZAR, Associated Press Writer Sat Oct 14, 4:12 AM ET
CALLAO, Peru - Shining Path founder Abimael Guzman, whose messianic communist vision inspired a 12-year rebellion that cost nearly 70,000 lives, was found guilty Friday of aggravated terrorism and sentenced to life in prison.
ADVERTISEMENT
click here
The 71-year-old former philosophy professor stood impassively with his hands crossed in front of his waist as a court clerk read the sentence, ending a yearlong civilian retrial.
Guzman's longtime lover and second-in-command Elena Iparraguirre, 59, also received a life sentence. Ten other co-defendants from his inner circle received sentences ranging from 24 to 35 years in prison.
After the sentences were announced, Guzman reached over and kissed Iparraguirre's hand, then gave her a light embrace. His lawyer, Manuel Fajardo, told The Associated Press: "The sentence they have imposed on them constitutes a medal."
He said "history will provide their verdict in the end," adding that the court's ruling was based not on the law but on politics." He said earlier that appeals were planned.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Guzman was known to his followers as "Presidente Gonzalo," inspiring a cultlike obedience among a Maoist guerrilla insurgency that grew to 10,000 armed fighters....more
Linear Mode
