Authorities in Peru have released Pedro Carranza Ugaz, a journalist who was jailed for over eight years for allegedly collaborating with terrorists, reports the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC). Carranza Ugaz, a journalist for Radio Oriental and "El Tarapotino" magazine, was pardoned after the Ministry of Justice's National Human Rights Council reviewed his case.

He was originally given a 20-year prison sentence on 7 November 1994 for allegedly producing propaganda for the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement in Alto Mayo, according to WiPC. The organisation says the only evidence brought against Carranza Ugaz was a confession extracted under duress, and statements made by former guerrillas who testified against him in exchange for lighter sentences. For more information, contact WiPC by e-mail (dixe@wipcpen.org) or see www.oneworld.org/internatpen/.">mailto:dixe@wipcpen.org">dixe@wipcpen.org) or see www.oneworld.org/internatpen/.