MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Last 5 members of Emtrasur freighter's crew acquitted

No ruling has been issued so far on the fate of the Boeing 747

Argentine Federal Judge Federico Villena Friday ruled in favor of acquitting the remaining five crewmembers of the Venezuelan-Iranian Boeing 747-300 seized at the Ezeiza International Airport citing a lack of evidence to prosecute them for financing terrorist activities.

Villena thus authorized Víctor Manuel Pérez, Mario José Arraga Urdaneta, Abdolbaset Mohammadi, Saeid Valizadeh, and Gholamreza Ghasemi to leave the country, despite the US Department of Justice's involvement in the investigation.

According to Telesur, the 3 Iranians and 2 Venezuelans will have their passports returned to them and next week they will be able to return to their countries.

On Sept. 16, Villena released 12 of the crew members, and two more were freed on Sept. 30. With Friday's decision, none of the 19 crewmembers could be linked to illegal activities.

The US-built Boeing freighter bearing the registration number YV3531 is owned by Emtrasur, a subsidiary of flag carrier Conviasa, which is sanctioned by the White House, as is Mahan Air, the Iranian airline from whom Venezuela purchased the aircraft, about which no ruling has been issued so far.