8 of the 10 missionaries are released from Haiti jail

posted on: Feb 18 2010 9:28 by Royston. Viewed 295 times.


Eight American missionaries were released yesterday from prison in Haiti, nearly three weeks after being charged with kidnapping for trying to take a group of children out of the country. The Baptist missionaries took off at night, bound for Miami, on a C-130 U.S. Air Force cargo plane.

Hours earlier, just before nightfall, the eight, looking tired and hot, walked out of  the Haitian jail escorted by U.S. diplomats. They smiled and waved at reporters from inside the vehicle transporting them to an American field hospital inside the airport.

Kimberly Flowers, from the U.S. Embassy said, as U.S. citizens, the eight were entitled to be assigned a flight to leave the country. Earlier, a Haitian judge said he had decided to release eight of the 10 American Baptists after hearing testimony from parents of the children they had tried to take to the Dominican Republic.

Judge Bernard Saint Vil told reporters that the eight would leave Haiti without depositing bail or under any other conditions. "Parents of the children made statements showing that they can be released, "he added, explaining that the parents had consented to the removal of their sons and daughters.

Saint-Vil said he still wants to question the groups leader, Laura Silsby and the tenth member, Charisa Coulter about their visit to Haiti in December before the earthquake, but he asked for Coulter to receive hospital treatment because of her diabetes.