The 10 jailed Americans in Haiti will be held at least through the weekend. Two days ago, the Associated Press reported that a Haitian judge ordered the 10 Americans being held in a Haitian jail released. CNN reported that the prosecution had 5 days to appeal that decision. NBC spoke to that judge Thursday who said that he never released or stated such information. In the meantime, the 10 Americans are still being held in jail.
Today is the 30-day anniversary of the massive 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. The country of Haiti has declared Friday to be a day of mourning. The court is closed Friday, so it appears that the 10 Americans will be held for at least the weekend.
The 10 American missionaries are from a Baptist church in Idaho. The judge told NBC that no decision has been made about the fate of the 10 American missionaries.
The US Embassy ambassador Kenneth Merton said, "We have told the Haitian government that if they want to have any conversations with us, about these people and their situation, we are open to that. But beyond that, they've engaged legal counsel and the process is working its way through the Haitian courts. Beyond that, I'm not sure there's really much else to tell, quite frankly."
The 10 Americans were arrested on January 29th for attempting to take 33 Haitian children out of the country without the proper documentation. The Americans stated that they were taking the children to a Dominican Republic orphanage, and that they had no criminal intention.
An eye doctor from Utah, Dr. Branson Call returned Monday from Haiti after an annual trip to help the people of Haiti. Dr. Call was in Haiti when the earthquake struck and amazingly survived, even though 30 medical students in the building next door all died. For several days he was unable to contact his family or friends because there wasn’t phone service or internet. His family wasn’t even sure he was alive. He spent several days trying to help the wounded before getting onto a plane to the Dominic Republic and contacting his family, according to ABC 4.
The Salt Lake City based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has responded and said that no missionaries from the US are in Haiti, but that an immediate relief project has begun to provide aid. In Haiti, the Caribbean Area Presidency of the LDS Church also provided immediate relief to the people there. To donate to the LDS Church aid for Haiti, go to LDS.org. For more information on how the LDS Church is helping in Haiti, click here.
To see a slideshow of the earthquake disaster photos in Haiti, click here.
If you enjoyed this article, please click on the subscribe button above to receive an email when new articles are published by this examiner.
Other articles from this examiner:
Tiger Woods new golf game slogan Never Play Alone creates controversy
Walter Fredrick Morrison, creator of the Frisbee died at 90 in Utah
Video: Two luge crashes occur Friday during Olympic training runs
Video: John Mayer apologizes for Playboy Interview comments
DA uses Jaycee Dugard journal entries in court to keep Phillip Garrido from contacting her
Video: Glenn Beck asks Debra Medina about 9/11 conspiracies
Look inside the Olympic Village and an overview of the 2010 Olympic Games
Comments
The missionaries were just tring to help ,its what they do .They did not know much about the laws of the country and did not think the documents would be relevant and for God's sake the childrens parent willingly handed them over that they could not take care of them and would have latter abandoned them and this missionaries forgo thier time energy and money to help this children and now just to get jailed for it
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!