Port-au-Prince: A Haitian judge has freed eight of the 10 Americans held in the quake-battered nation on child kidnapping charges, saying they can leave the country, their lawyer said.
The emotionally charged case has dragged on for 19 days, drawing the attention of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and overshadowing the critical relief effort after a devastating earthquake on January 12.
"Eight of my clients will be set free. The judge wants to question two of my clients because they were in Haiti before the earthquake," said lawyer Aviol Fleurant.
Asked whether the judge in the case had already issued the release order, Fleurant said "yes," and that they were allowed to leave Haiti the same day with no bail to pay.
The US nationals, Baptist missionaries belonging to the New Life Children's Refuge, were caught last month trying to take a bus load of 33 supposed orphans across the border to the Dominican Republic without authorisation.
After it emerged some of the children had parents, the Americans' lawyers have sought to portray the Baptists as acting selflessly to help during Haiti's catastrophe. They say the group had no criminal intent.
Some parents told the judge they willingly gave them up because they were unable to care for them following the devastating quake that destroyed much of the Haitian capital and killed more than 217,000 people.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 09:32