Peru Reportedly Will Free Pilots Who Downed Cessna
A Peruvian court has ordered the release of two air force pilots who were jailed after they mistakenly shot down a small plane last year, killing an American missionary and her infant, their lawyer said Monday.
Attorney Jorge Power said his clients’ right to be charged within nine months of incarceration had been violated. They had been in jail more than 10 months.
Maj. Jose Antonio Redhead and Lt. Richard Hercilla should be released this week, Power said. He said the court made its decision Thursday.
The release order followed a successful appeal to the Constitutional Tribunal, Peru’s highest court for constitutional matters, Power said.
Redhead and Hercilla piloted a fighter jet that shot down a Cessna seaplane, killing American missionary Veronica Bowers, 35, and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, in a botched drug interdiction mission in April 2001. The pilot and Bowers’ husband and son survived.
The Peruvian plane downed the Cessna after a CIA-operated surveillance flight identified it as a possible drug courier.
Power said the pilots may still face trial on charges including disobedience and negligence, but he did not know when those cases would go to court.
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