Grenada releases 3 coup prisoners

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada -- Three men convicted of killings in a 1983 coup in Grenada that triggered a U.S. invasion walked out of a hilltop prison on Thursday after serving 24 years behind bars.

The three men -- Hudson Austin, Colville McBarnett and John Ventour -- are members of the "Grenada 17" and were convicted of murder in the killings of former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, four Cabinet ministers and six supporters on Oct. 19, 1983.

The coup participants held back tears as they hugged relatives outside the 17th-century Richmond Hill Prison, where they spent nearly a quarter century.

"It's difficult. You can imagine how overwhelmed I am," the 51-year-old Ventour told reporters, his voice thick with emotion before offering an apology for "all the pain and suffering during the revolution."

It was a moment of vindication for Austin, an ex-armed forces commander and coup leader, who stayed put along with McBarnett and Ventour when other inmates not tied to the coup escaped after Hurricane Ivan punched holes in the crumbling prison's walls in 2004.

"Some parts of it were tough, but I did my best inside there," said Austin, holding a red rose given to him by his daughter. "I had a life outside before and I will be going back to that life."

Death sentences imposed on the prisoners in 1986 were thrown out in February 2007 by the London-based Privy Council, the highest court of appeal for the island. At resentencing last year, Grenadian Supreme Court Judge Francis Bell said the prisoners had demonstrated remorse.

The remaining seven coup prisoners -- including former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard -- are due to be released in late 2009 or early 2010.

In 1979, Grenada became a flash point in the Cold War after Bishop led a bloodless coup and installed a socialist government that turned to Cuba for aid. Hard-line members of the Marxist government sent soldiers to kill Bishop on Oct. 19, 1983, considering him too moderate.

Six days after the killings, thousands of U.S. troops stormed the Caribbean island on a mission that President Ronald Reagan said would restore order, protect American medical students and prevent a buildup of Cuban military advisers and weapons.

The bodies of Bishop and the other victims have never been found.