US missionary held in India for violating currency law a 'hostage': Donald Trump

NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump has presented an American Christian missionary arrested in India for violating foreign currency law and given due process as a "hostage" like those held in other countries like China and North Korea. In a video shown at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Monday night, Trump showed Bryan Nerren with five Americans who he claimed were held abroad as "hostages" and were rescued by his administration. The others were held in Syria, Iran, Venezuela and Turkey.

It was strange for someone held for violating currency regulations similar to the US and released after judicial process to be shown as a "hostage". It appeared to be part of Trump's play for the Christian fundamentalists.

The video segment featuring Nerren said that Trump had rescued Americans "wrongfully detained" and "beaten, abused, starved and left for dead" and showed Americans returning from places like China, North Korea and Iran. After Nerren narrated his experience, Trump said: "India responded very well to my request. So we appreciate that."

Nerren told the Daily News Journal newspaper after his return to Shelbyville, Tennessee in May that during Trump's visit to India a deal had been made for his release if he signed some papers. The newspaper reported that Nerren said he was detained in October when he was carrying $40,000 in cash, which he claimed he was transporting to Nepal.

There were contradictions between what he said on the video and what he had told media outlets or what had been reported by media that had been in contact with him.

The newpaper reported that Nerren said he faced prison terms three to five years, while he claimed in the video with Trump that he had initially faced 35 years and that the charges were reduced so he would face seven years.

For someone who was said to be a hostage, he told the newspaper, that judges and lawyers on his case cared about "doing the right thing at the end to get me free."

He told Trump on the video: "I was not going to India but was going through India to Nepal." But Morning Star News said that Nerren was arrested at the Bagdogra airport in West Bengal while he was on his way to Sikkim with two other missionaries. (IANS)

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