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[bacasper]

Ooh, the judge let the evil, kidnapping, pedophile, child traffickers go! He must be one of them, too!

Missionaries freed by Haitian judge land in US

By DAVID FISCHER and FRANK BAJAK, Associated Press Writers � 35 mins ago

MIAMI � Eight American missionaries freed by a Haitian judge landed in Miami early Thursday, nearly three weeks after the group was charged with kidnapping for trying to take 33 children out of the quake-stricken country.

A U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane carrying the Americans landed at 12:04 a.m. at Miami International Airport, said Lt. Kenneth Scholz of the U.S. Southern Command. The group still hadn't emerged from customs as of early Thursday.

The group's swift departure from Haiti began a day earlier when Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said eight of the 10 missionaries were free to leave without bail because parents of the children had testified they voluntarily gave their children to the missionaries believing the Americans would give them a better life.

"The parents gave their kids away voluntarily," Saint-Vil said in explaining his decision.

He said, however, that he still wanted to question the group's leader, Laura Silsby, and her former nanny, Charisa Coulter, because they had visited Haiti prior to the quake to inquire about obtaining orphans.

Just after dusk in Haiti, the bedraggled, sweat-stained group of eight walked out of the jail escorted by U.S. diplomats. They waited until they were safely inside a white embassy van before some flashed smiles and gave a thumbs up to reporters. Their plane took off from Port-au-Prince shortly thereafter as a group of reporters watched.

Silas Thompson, 19, of Twin Falls, Idaho, plopped into the back seat, breathing heavily and beaming with relief. He'd accompanied his father Paul, a pastor, on the mission not knowing that Silsby had not obtained the proper papers, said his U.S.-based lawyer, Caleb Stegall.

The missionaries were charged with child kidnapping for trying to take 33 Haitian children to the Dominican Republic on Jan. 29 without Haitian adoption certificates.

Their detentions came just as aid officials were urging a halt to short-cut adoptions in the wake of the earthquake. Before their release, Haiti's No. 2 justice official, Claudy Gassent, informed them of the judge's decision but said he also gave them a lecture.

"They know they broke the law," he said.

The missionaries say they were on a do-it-youself "rescue mission" to take child quake victims to a hastily prepared orphanage in the Dominican Republic, denying the trafficking charge.

Silsby originally said they were taking only orphaned and abandoned children, but The Associated Press determined that at least 20 were handed over willingly by their parents, who said the Baptists had promised to educate them and let their parents visit.

Saint-Vil said he did not release Silsby, 47, or Coulter, 24, because of their previous activities in Haiti during a December visit. Silsby hastily enlisted the rest of the group after the quake. Coulter, of Boise, Idaho, is diabetic and the judge signed an order Wednesday afternoon authorizing her hospitalization.

[bacasper]

One to go!

Haiti frees US missionary; group leader still held

By EVENS SANON, Associated Press Writer Evens Sanon, Associated Press Writer � 20 mins ago

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti � One of two Baptist missionaries still held on kidnapping charges in Haiti was released Monday, but the U.S. group's leader remained in custody.

Charisa Coulter, 24, was taken from her jail cell to the airport by U.S. Embassy staff more than a month after she and nine other Americans were arrested for trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after the earthquake.

Coulter, wearing a red tank top and sunglasses, declined comment as she quickly got into an SUV that took her to the airport.

The leader of the Idaho-based missionary group, Laura Silsby, said she was glad about Coulter's release. "I'm very happy that she left today, and for her freedom, and expect mine to come soon," Silsby told The Associated Press as she left the courthouse where a judge held a closed hearing Monday.

Silsby, 40, was returned to her cell in a police station near Port-au-Prince airport.

Defense lawyer Louis Ricardo Chachoute said Coulter was released because there was no evidence to support the charges of kidnapping and criminal association. He predicted Silsby would be released soon as well.

"There are no prosecution witnesses to substantiate anything," Chachoute said.

Coulter, of Boise, Idaho, is a diabetic and had medical difficulties during her confinement. She was treated at least once, on Feb. 1, by American doctors after collapsing with what she said was either severe dehydration or the flu.

After a court hearing Monday for Silsby, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said he heard evidence from a police officer who said he stopped Silsby from loading a bus with children near the Dominican Republic consulate in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. That was three days before her group was arrested while trying to cross into the Dominican Republic with 33 children.

"I found inconsistencies in some of Laura's statements," Saint-Vil told reporters, saying he planned to visit the Dominican consulate to resolve them.

The Dominican consul in Haiti, Carlos Castillo, has said previously that he warned Silsby she lacked the required papers to leave the country with the children and risked being arrested at the border for child trafficking.

The Americans' arrest came as Haitian authorities were trying to crack down on unauthorized adoptions to prevent child trafficking in the chaos following the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake.

Silsby initially said the children were orphaned in the quake that the government said has killed more than 230,000 people. But the AP found the children had been given away by still-living parents.

Chachoute said the Americans only came to Haiti to help the country. "Firstly, there was no criminal conspiracy; secondly, there was no child snatching," he said.

[bacasper]

The silence of those who were absolutely convinced of evil, twisted plans on the part of the missionaries at the beginning of this thread is deafening.

[bacasper]

A single charge left: "organization of irregular trips."

Haiti tosses kidnapping charges against Americans

By FRANK BAJAK, Associated Press Writer Frank Bajak, Associated Press Writer � Mon Apr 26, 6:33 pm ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti � A Haitian judge said Monday he has dismissed kidnapping and criminal association charges against 10 American missionaries detained for trying to take a busload of children out of the country after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said Laura Silsby, the last of the 10 missionaries jailed in Haiti, still faced a lesser charge for allegedly organizing the effort to transport the 33 children to an orphanage they were setting up in the Dominican Republic.

Silsby faces up to three years in prison if convicted on the remaining charge, the "organization of irregular trips," from a 1980 statute restricting travel out of Haiti signed by then-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Silsby declined comment from her jail cell. Shiller Roi, a lawyer for Silsby, declined comment, saying he hadn't yet received the judge's written decision.

The judge told The Associated Press that the charge of organizing the trip was also pending against Jean Sainvil, a Haitian-born pastor from Atlanta who also helped organize the venture. Sainvil did not immediately respond to message left on his voicemail.

The judge, who spoke to AP in a brief phone interview, did not explain the reasons for his decisions.

It was the latest development in a case that emerged amid the chaos following the devastating earthquake, which the government said killed an estimated 230,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

Border guards detained the Americans on Jan. 29 as they tried to enter the Dominican Republic from Haiti without the required documents for the children.

A relative of two members of the group of Baptists said at the time that they intended to take the children, all of whom still had at least one living parent, to an orphanage they were setting up in the Dominican Republic for Haitian children.

On Feb. 17, the judge released eight of the Americans after concluding that parents voluntarily gave up their children in the belief that the Americans would give them a better life. He freed the ninth March 8, leaving only Silsby in custody.

Supporters of the group said they were only trying to help the children and simply misunderstood Haitian adoption rules intended to prevent child trafficking following the earthquake.

Child trafficking has long been a serious problem in Haiti.

In a separate case Monday, three suspected Haitian traffickers were caught driving 24 children in the town of Mirebalais. The group was traveling with the children's birth certificates, suggesting they meant to put them up for adoption, local judge Vicran Charles said.

The judge said the suspects said they were taking the children to a woman who runs an orphanage in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and promised the children a better life.

The children, who were placed in a nearby orphanage, range in age from 1 to 13. None appeared to be orphans.

"I have a mom and a dad," said 8-year-old Jolen Plaisir. "They didn't tell me why they were sending me to an orphanage."

[TheUrbanMyth]

[runthegauntlet]

Bacasper continues to bump this because he has a massive persecution complex and loves to get on his little soapbox to defend the (in)glorious deeds of all the crack-pot 'missionaries' to further validate their (and his own?) subjection to their self-created delusions of fairy gods and devils.

At least that's what the constant bumping of this inane thread seems to suggest.

[bacasper]

[runthegauntlet]

[Summer Wine]

[b]

[runthegauntlet]

[Summer Wine]

[bacasper]

[Summer Wine]

Hey Run,

With hindsight, I can see that what you wrote might not have been how you intended it to be read.

If so, I am sorry, but it can be read that way, so just be careful.

[runthegauntlet]

[Enrico Palazzo]