US military veterans chant slogans during a protest demanding the release of US Marine veteran Andrew Tahmooressi. (AFP)
Tijuana, Mexico:
A Mexican court ordered the release on Friday of a former US Marine jailed in the country since March for carrying weapons, after pressure from top US officials.
Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi, a 25-year-old veteran of the war in Afghanistan, arrived in the United States Friday night, initially landing in San Diego and taking a subsequent flight to Florida, US media reported.
He had been arrested on March 31 when he entered Mexico from San Ysidro, California.
Tahmooressi's family has said that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and crossed the border into Tijuana inadvertently with several weapons that he had purchased legally in the United States inside his truck.
A statement from the Council of the Federal Judiciary said it had ordered the "immediate release" of Tahmooressi, from El Hongo prison in Baja California state, after Mexican prosecutors declined to press the case further.
Tahmooressi's detention garnered broad national attention in the United States, with dozens of politicians and top US officials calling on Mexico to release him.
Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon took to Twitter to say he was "overjoyed" to learn of Tahmooressi's release.
"I have long maintained that he has been held in a Mexican prison for far too long, and needed to be returned to the United States to receive proper treatment for the PTSD that he suffers from as a direct result of his heroic service to our nation," Salmon wrote in a series of tweets.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, where Tahmooressi's family lives, said in a statement she was relieved he was out, and said she too hoped he got immediate attention for his PTSD.
"It was the dogged determination of Andrew's mother, Jill, and the vast network of support here in America that are largely responsible for securing his release today," she said.
Mexican authorities had previously acknowledged that Tahmooressi suffered from mental issues stemming from his time in a war zone, and said he had been given medical treatment accordingly.
However Tahmooressi was kept in isolation in the medium-security El Hongo prison in the Mexican border town of Tecate, where he was transferred in late May.
Tahmooressi stood accused in Mexico of carrying two firearms used by the military plus an unlicensed gun and cartridges in his vehicle.
Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi, a 25-year-old veteran of the war in Afghanistan, arrived in the United States Friday night, initially landing in San Diego and taking a subsequent flight to Florida, US media reported.
He had been arrested on March 31 when he entered Mexico from San Ysidro, California.
Tahmooressi's family has said that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and crossed the border into Tijuana inadvertently with several weapons that he had purchased legally in the United States inside his truck.
A statement from the Council of the Federal Judiciary said it had ordered the "immediate release" of Tahmooressi, from El Hongo prison in Baja California state, after Mexican prosecutors declined to press the case further.
Tahmooressi's detention garnered broad national attention in the United States, with dozens of politicians and top US officials calling on Mexico to release him.
Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon took to Twitter to say he was "overjoyed" to learn of Tahmooressi's release.
"I have long maintained that he has been held in a Mexican prison for far too long, and needed to be returned to the United States to receive proper treatment for the PTSD that he suffers from as a direct result of his heroic service to our nation," Salmon wrote in a series of tweets.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, where Tahmooressi's family lives, said in a statement she was relieved he was out, and said she too hoped he got immediate attention for his PTSD.
"It was the dogged determination of Andrew's mother, Jill, and the vast network of support here in America that are largely responsible for securing his release today," she said.
Mexican authorities had previously acknowledged that Tahmooressi suffered from mental issues stemming from his time in a war zone, and said he had been given medical treatment accordingly.
However Tahmooressi was kept in isolation in the medium-security El Hongo prison in the Mexican border town of Tecate, where he was transferred in late May.
Tahmooressi stood accused in Mexico of carrying two firearms used by the military plus an unlicensed gun and cartridges in his vehicle.
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