Eight American missionaries flew out of Haiti today after a judge ordered them freed, but two of their colleagues remained in detention for further questioning on charges of kidnapping children.
The eight freed missionaries headed to the US embassy after their release. They then departed the earthquake-ravished country on a US air force aircraft, witnesses said.
The 10 Americans, most of whom are members of a Baptist Church in Idaho, were arrested last month on charges that they tried to take 33 Haitian children out of the country without proper documentation after the devastating January 12th earthquake in Haiti.
The judge found no evidence of criminal intent among the eight who were freed. But he ordered group leader Laura Silsby and another woman, Charisa Coulter, held for further questioning about their previous trips to Haiti.
Ms Silsby and other members of the group of missionaries have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying they had only wanted to help orphans left destitute by the quake.
But they had no Haitian identity or exit papers for the children. Many had living parents who acknowledged turning the children over to the missionaries in the belief they would have better care in the hands of the Americans.
The Americans were arrested on January 29th, 17 days after the magnitude 7 earthquake that killed at least 212,000 people.
The case has distracted Haitian authorities at a time when they are working with foreign aid groups to feed and care for hundreds of thousands of homeless quake victims sheltering in makeshift camps scattered across the ruined capital Port-au-Prince.
Reuters