Local consultant Cyndy Vanier has arrived home after spending 18 months in a Mexican jail on charges she was the mastermind in a plot to smuggle late Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi’s son Saadi and his family to Mexico.
Vanier was charged in November 2011 and held in a Mexican jail until her release on April 18 after a decision by a tribunal of the Supreme Court that ruled there were no grounds to hold her or pursue the charges. The court statement did not rule on guilt or innocence.
“As you can appreciate I am still very shaken by all that has happened,” Vanier said on April 24 in an email to the Advertiser.
Vanier said she is reluctant to conduct media interviews until she has recovered from the ordeal.
“There have been so many incorrect accounts of the situation in the media,” she said in her email. “Needless to say I am very reluctant to say or do much in that regard until I am emotionally and physically stronger.”
Vanier was one of three individuals arrested and accused of trying to smuggle Saadi Gaddafi from Niger into Mexico.
Mexico’s Interior Minister Alejandro Poire named Vanier the ringleader of the plot, which he said also involved two Mexicans and a Danish man. Poire said during a press conference that Vanier was in “direct contact with the Gaddafi family” and he called her the “leader of the group.”
However, Vanier has repeatedly denied those allegations and said incorrect News reports may have damaged her reputation and her consulting firm, Vanier Consulting.
“The court of public opinion … [has] damaged my reputation and good name beyond repair,” she said referring to her claims of incorrect media reports. “This is something I have to deal with. Now that we are home, we need to heal, which means being around family and close friends to get over the initial shock of returning and missing so much of my life,” she said, referring to herself and her husband Pierre, who has been in Mexico to support her throughout the ordeal.
One of Vanier’s co-accused, Gabriella de Cueto, was also released at the same time, according to CBC News.
Vanier has maintained her innocence since she was initially charged and has challenged the validity of evidence against her.
“We will be issuing a press release shortly as it is being vetted by the legal team, which will explain the release and declaration of innocence,” she said in the email.
