Hasenfus Freed, May Testify on Aid to Contras

Nicaragua’s leftist government Wednesday pardoned and released convicted gunrunner Eugene Hasenfus, the first American prisoner in its five-year war against U.S.-backed rebels.

Hasenfus, who had begun a 30-year sentence a month ago, was taken from prison directly to the presidential palace in Managua, where President Daniel Ortega turned him over to visiting U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.). He was flown aboard the senator’s Air Force plane to Guatemala City, where he was spending the night before returning to the United States this afternoon.

Dodd, who opposes U.S. policy toward Nicaragua, raised the Hasenfus case in a four-hour meeting with Ortega on Tuesday night. He said Hasenfus is willing to testify before U.S. congressional committees investigating the Iran- contras arms scandal. The probes threaten to undermine support for continued U.S. aid to the contras.

‘Gesture of Peace’

“We have hope, confidence that this gesture of peace to the American people will contribute to preventing more bloodshed and achieving true peace,” Ortega said at the turnover ceremony.

Ortega told an earlier news conference that he had asked the National Assembly to approve the pardon as a birthday gift for Hasenfus’ son, Adam, who turns 7 today.

“Let this be a reminder to President Reagan that there are children here who must have birthdays without the threat of death and mutilation,” Ortega said.

The assembly, after a three-hour debate, approved the pardon by a vote of 70 to 4, with one abstention.

“This is a day of great surprises, a day that I will surely remember in my heart forever,” said Hasenfus, a former Marine, who was clad in a yellow tropical shirt.

“I couldn’t be more happy,” said his wife, Sally, who stood at his side.

In Washington, the State Department said the United States is gratified that Hasenfus will be reunited with his family for the Christmas season but accused the Sandinista government of orchestrating his release for “maximum propaganda effect.”

“The fundamental totalitarian nature of the Sandinista regime has not changed, and our policy toward Nicaragua has not changed, “ the department statement said.

Lone Survivor

Hasenfus, 45, of Marinette, Wis., is the lone survivor of a C-123 transport plane shot down Oct. 5 over southern Nicaragua while trying to drop arms to the rebels. Three other crewmen, two of them Americans, died.

A three-member political tribunal in Managua convicted him Nov. 15 and sentenced him to 30 years’ imprisonment for breaching national security by smuggling weapons “used to kill peasants and other Nicaraguan citizens.”.

Hasenfus was a paid cargo handler on the flight and admitted to participating in 10 secret arms deliveries to the contras.

His capture brought to light alleged White House links to arms deliveries to the contras and raised questions of whether the Reagan Administration illegally supplied the weapons in violation of a two-year congressional ban on military aid to the contras. Congress voted to renew the aid in June.

May Be Iran Link

There is speculation that Hasenfus’ ill-fated flight and others were paid for by funds diverted to the contras from secret U.S. arms sales to Iran.

During his trial, Hasenfus first told reporters the CIA oversaw the gun-running operation but later backed off the assertion, saying it was only a guess.

Dodd said Hasenfus could be an important witness in the congressional investigations of the affair. “He expressed a willingness to talk,” Dodd said. “I think he’s got something to say.”

The Hasenfus case was a propaganda coup for the Sandinistas, who came to power in 1979. They held it up as proof that the contras were nothing more than an artificial insurgency maintained from abroad.

Since his sentencing, the government has debated a pardon. Some high-ranking officials wanted to free him as soon as possible, arguing privately that holding him would be provocative.

Groups Opposed Pardon

But these officials had to assuage Sandinistas who were on record as opposing the pardon as well as groups of militant veterans, mothers of soldiers and others who feel the losses of the war.

A turning point in the debate appeared to come last Friday when the Sandinistas arrested another American, Sam Nesley Hall, for trespassing at Nicaragua’s largest air base with a map of military targets in his sock.

The new case gave the government a chance to keep its anti-Reagan propaganda campaign alive while letting Hasenfus go.

Hall, 49, of Dayton, Ohio, was accused of terrorism. Ortega announced Tuesday that he will be tried by the same people’s court that convicted Hasenfus.

Senator Meets Hall

Dodd told reporters at the airport that he was able to meet briefly with Hall but gave no details. The government has refused American requests for a consular visit with the prisoner.

At the hand-over ceremony, Ortega described Hasenfus as an unfortunate victim of American society who was forced to accept work with the contras to support his family.

Besides Adam, Hasenfus and his wife also have a daughter, Sarah, 12, and another son, Eugene Jr., 9.

“Mr. Hasenfus is being released on humanitarian grounds,” Dodd said. “I did not ask that he be pardoned, and there is no quid pro quo for his release.”