Schumer submitted the following statement for the record at the Congressional subcommittee hearing, Advocating for American Jacob Ostreicher’s Freedom After Two Years in Bolivian Detention:

“Jacob Ostreicher needs to be freed immediately. He has been denied due process in Bolivia and held without formal charges for nearly two years. Though he is no longer in prison, he unfairly remains under house arrest. It is unacceptable that he remains confined even though numerous high ranking Bolivian officials have confessed their part in an elaborate extortion scheme related to this case. In fact, more than a dozen Bolivian judges and officials have been incarcerated in connection with this extortion plot. It saddens me that this man continues to be held in Bolivia, separated from his family and unable to return home to New York. It is time he comes back to the United States, any further delay continues to be shameful and inexcusable. ”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)