(BP): A judge in Haiti freed eight of the 10 American missions volunteers who had been detained in the country on February 17.
Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said two volunteers would not be freed. Laura Silsby, the group’s leader, and Charisa Coulter were being kept for further investigation on charges levelled against the group for allegedly attempting to transport 33 Haitian children without proper documentation into the Dominican Republic to an orphanage Silsby was founding. “The parents of the kids made statements proving that they can be released,” said Saint-Vil. CNN earlier in the day reported that Coulter, a diabetic, was taken to a field hospital “in a lot of pain.” Friends and family members of the detainees had expressed concern about the volunteers’ access to health care since their arrest on January 29.
The volunteers returned to the United States without posting bail after their detention. Saint-Vil said the investigation was continuing and the Americans would have to return to Haiti if they were called back
February 22, 2010 Vol 68 Issue 6
