An official with the American Family Association was relieved to learn that a Baptist missionary from Idaho, imprisoned in Haiti since January, has been released. Laura Silsby led a group of ten missionaries who were arrested in late January as they tried to bring 33 children back to the U.S. for adoption following the massive earthquake on the island nation. Nine of the missionaries were released shortly after their arrest, but Silsby was held on charges of irregular travel. After more than three months in jail, she was convicted, sentenced to time served, and then yesterday released.
Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the American Family Association, knows Silsby from his time serving as executive director of the Idaho Values Alliance. He says the final charge against Silsbee -- a charge he describes as "trumped up" -- proves her innocence.
"She was charged with scheduling or planning an illegal trip -- and this was a charge filed under a law that had been established in 1980 by a former dictator in Haiti...," he shares.
According to Fischer, the purpose of that law was to prevent Haitians from leaving the country to escape dictatorial rule.
"So [the charge against Silsby] was just a trumped up charge," he responds. "It's almost as if they just felt obligated to find something to hang around her neck...[but] we're just glad she's out of prison and back home."
Fischer describes Silsby's conditions in the Haitian jail as deplorable.
The last of 10 American missionaries detained while trying to take 33 children out of Haiti is free after being sentenced by a Haitian judge to jail time she already served.
Before boarding a plane to leave Haiti, Laura Silsby told reporters she was praising God for her release after more than three months behind bars.
Silsby had initially been charged with kidnapping and criminal association, but those charges were dropped for her and the nine other Americans who were released earlier. Instead, she was convicted of arranging illegal travel.
Silsby had told the court she thought the children were orphans whose homes were destroyed in Haiti's earthquake. But it turned out that all of the children had at least one living parent, who turned the children over in hopes that they'd have better lives.
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