A political prisoner can be defined in various ways. According to BBC News, the term political prisoner “has little meaning in legal terms; there is no internationally recognized definition of political prisoner” (1998). They further define it as “Any prisoner whose case has a significant political element: either the motivation for the prisoner's acts, the acts themselves, or the motivation of the authorities” (1998). Furthermore, another source provides a further example of how women might be labeled as such. Shelley Bannister argues that “women who respond to male violence with physical resistance, and are incarcerated as a result, should be seen as political prisoners” (Meyers, 1997). As previously mentioned, Alyssa Bustamante was jailed for strangling, cutting and stabbing a nine Thirteen year old because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone, she was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. According to sources, Alyssa's academic tests revealed that she is a gifted student but sometimes does not apply herself in class (McGowin, 2009). But on the contrary Alyssa reveals a problematic side. His YouTube page lists his hobbies as killing people and cutting (McGowin, 2009). In addition to this behavior, the juvenile court said that they had to cut her nails because she was using them to cut her arms, and she also attempted suicide and was hospitalized and received daily therapy after that incident (McGowin, 2009 ). Additionally, Alyssa is also taking Prozac to combat her depression. As we can tell, Alyssa had a difficult childhood. You could say that Alyssa Bustamante is a political prisoner due to the murder of nine-year-old Elizabeth Preiss. During the trial, defense attorney...... middle of document ......r Alyssa being admitted to a women's prison would be horrible because it would be difficult for her to get treatment for her depression and as she mentioned in her diary, if she can't talk to anyone, she will remain bottled up and explode, which would happen exactly if she went into an unknown environment. Works Cited Meyers, M. M. (1997). News coverage of violence against women: Generating blame. (pages 35-37). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Print.McGowin, M.M. (2009, November 11). Who is Alyssa Bustamante?. Retrieved from http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=379234George, E. G. (2010). A woman taking life notes from a women's prison. (ed. 2010, pp. 130-140). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Print.When is a "criminal" a "political prisoner"?. (1998, January 9). Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/46095.stm