Eight of the U.S. missionaries imprisoned in Haiti on charges of child kidnapping could be released today, according to a report from Reuters, citing Haiti's Judge Bernard Saint-Vil.

Saint-vil said some missionaries would be allowed to return to the U.S. without posting bail with the condition to return to Haiti if they need to be interviewed for the ongoing investigations, the Associated Press reports.

The leader of the group Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter, were to remain in Haiti for further investigation, Reuters noted.

Ten U.S. missionaries most of whom belong to a Baptist church in Idaho, were arrested on January 29 and charged a week later with kidnapping 33 Haitian children and criminal association.

The missionaries claimed they were trying to help the children by taking them from Haiti to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, following the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti but Haitian authorities said they lacked proper documentation.

Since February 4, the missionaries have spent their days at a jail in Port-au-Prince.

Religion