New Brunswick man released in Lebanon

A Senator says New Brunswick potato farmer Henk Tepper has been released from a Lebanese jail after being held for a year.

Senator Pierrette Ringuette says Tepper is on a plane back to Canada, and is expected to arrive in Ottawa later today where he will be greeted by his family.

Tepper, who’s from Drummond, New Brunswick, has been in custody in Beirut since March 23 of last year. He was arrested on an international arrest warrant on allegations he exported rotten potatoes to Algeria in 2007 and forged export documents. His lawyers have denied these charges saying the shipment was inspected in Canada and met Algerian standards before being exported.

Over the past year, Tepper’s lawyers and family have expressed concerns about his deteriorating health. He was in Lebanon on a trade mission trip sponsored by the Canadian government.