Oregon Veterinarian Released from East Timor Prison - East Idaho News
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Oregon Veterinarian Released from East Timor Prison

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123055310?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1419591087725iStock/Thinkstock(DILI, Timor-Leste) — Stacy Addison, a Portland, Oregon, veterinarian, has been released from a prison in East Timor.

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley tells ABC News Radio that Addison was wrongfully arrested in the Southeast Asian nation in September when she shared a cab with a stranger who picked up a package of drugs.

“She has never been tried and really has never been charged with anything,” Merkley said. “In fact I think it was while checking on her paperwork to see if she had been re-classified as a witness that she was told she was under arrest and being detained.”

Merkley says Addison is staying at the home of former president Jose Ramos-Hort.

Addison’s passport is detained, because she may have to testify at the trial of the stranger caught with the drugs. Senator Merkley is now working to get Addison’s passport back, so she can return home.

“We hope to get her home to Oregon soon,” Merkley added.

Addison’s mother Bernadette Kero said the situation has been difficult, but she was thrilled with the news of the release.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Kero said. “I mean it’s the best Christmas present.”

Merkley says, “This is the type of catastrophe that you just fear for when you’re traveling through the world.”


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