A court in Peru revoked parole for American activist Lori Berenson and ordered that she be arrested Wednesday and sent back to prison to finish the last five years of her 20-year prison sentence for aiding leftist rebels.

Deputy Justice Minister Luis Marill said Berenson should be detained in the coming hours. Marill said the court overturned a May ruling granting Berenson parole that was widely unpopular in Peru.

The court "has ordered the capture of U.S. citizen Lori Berenson and her immediate imprisonment," Marill said. The ruling by the three-judge panel of the criminal appeals court may not be appealed under Peruvian law.

The court's decision was announced two days after the 40-year-old New Yorker appeared at a hearing, apologizing for her crime and asking the court to uphold her parole. Berenson has acknowledged collaborating with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, but said she was never a member of the group nor involved in violent acts.

She told the court on Monday that she regrets her actions and hoped to focus on raising on her 15-month-old son, Salvador. Peruvian authorities have said that if parole were revoked, she would be required to return to prison with her son.

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