Casolo’s Release Predicted; Not Yet, Salvadoran Judge Says

SAN SALVADOR —  The lawyer for Jennifer Jean Casolo, imprisoned here on charges she aided leftist guerrillas, is working to have the American woman released, but the military court handling the case warned Tuesday that freedom may not come so quickly.

Casolo, arrested by National Police last month when they uncovered an arms cache during a raid on her house, is charged with terrorism, possession of war weapons and related crimes. She maintains she is innocent.

Casolo’s attorney, Salvador Ibarra, said Tuesday he is confident that motions he filed on Monday to have the case dropped will be accepted by the court.

“There is a very good chance she will be released,” Ibarra said after meeting with the judge, Guillermo Romero Hernandez. Ibarra predicted Casolo could be out of jail by the end of the week.

But Romero, apparently taken aback by Ibarra’s assertions, said he is reviewing the case and has yet to make any ruling.

“The case is still being processed,” Romero said.

What happens next in Casolo’s case remains unclear. While Romero could free the 28-year-old Thomaston, Conn., woman, the investigation could continue and a trial still could be held.

In a writ filed Monday, Ibarra said the case against Casolo was without merit because there wasn’t sufficient evidence to try her.

Further, he argued, she should be released on a technicality. Ibarra said that under a state of emergency declared by the government last month, the applicable laws to charge Casolo did not exist at the time of her arrest. The state of emergency, imposed in response to a fierce guerrilla offensive launched Nov. 11, suspends numerous laws, and emergency legislation technically did not go into effect until after Casolo was jailed, Ibarra asserted.

Police say they unearthed more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition, grenades and explosives in an underground tunnel in the back yard of a house Casolo rented in May. The weapons were being stockpiled for Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front rebels who are fighting to oust the U.S.-backed Salvadoran government, they said.

Casolo, who coordinated tours for visiting delegations of church workers and congressional aides for a religious group called Christian Educational Seminars, is being held in the Ilopango Women’s Prison.

Early Tuesday, Ibarra had told a group of reporters that Casolo would be freed before the end of the day. The premature announcement led to speculation that Ibarra was trying to bring pressure onto authorities to force her release.

But Ibarra insisted that the judge had promised to release Casolo, then backed out.

“This case is a hot potato for the judge,” Ibarra said. “He has the eyes of the world upon him, and he has to dispose of it before he gets burned.”