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PUERTO RICO HERALD
Puerto Rican Nationalists, Freed in U.S., Heading
Home
Controversy Over Clemency Remains
Compiled from Wire Reports
September 11, 1999
Copyright © 1999 THE PUERTO RICO HERALD. All Rights Reserved.
11 of the 14 Puerto Rican nationalists granted clemency by
President Clinton left prison yesterday and prepared to return
to their homeland after years behind bars.
One by one, they were freed from U.S. prisons and boarded jetliners.
Of those 11, all of whom had accepted President Clinton's clemency
offer, one arrived in Puerto Rico Friday night, six are expected
today, two are awaiting permission to live on the island and two
chose to stay in the United States.
Friends and relatives celebrated their releases from various
prisons around the country, but few people saw a quick end to
the political controversy the clemency has stirred. Both the House
and Senate have scheduled hearings next week on Clinton's decision,
and some Hispanic officials in New York say the episode has cooled
their enthusiasm for Hillary Rodham Clinton's possible Senate
campaign in that state.
The 14 belonged to the Puerto Rican independence organization
FALN, which was responsible for 130 bombings in the late 1970s
and early 1980s. None of those granted clemency, however, had
been convicted of crimes that resulted in death or injuries, the
White House has said.
Clinton on Aug. 11 offered them conditional clemency if they
would renounce violence. He later said he was swayed in part by
the long sentences most had served and by appeals made on their
behalf by former president Jimmy Carter, South African Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and others.
Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer had his sentence reduced and will
be paroled in five years.
Antonio Camacho-Negrón and Oscar Lopez Rivera rejected
the clemency offer. No offer of clemency was made to Carlos Alberto
Torres.
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