Cuban American pleads not guilty in 1968 hijacking

A Cuban American man pleaded not guilty to charges of hijacking a Pan American flight in 1968 and was ordered to appear before a district court for pretrial hearings, news reports said.

Updated on: Oct 14, 2009, 08:29:25 IST

IANS | By HT Correspondent, New York

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A Cuban American man pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of hijacking a Pan American flight in 1968 and was ordered to appear before a district court for pretrial hearings, news reports said.

Luis Armando Pena Soltren was ordered by US Magistrate Judge Douglas F Eaton to appear before a Manhattan court on Wednesday. He was arrested on Sunday after landing at John F Kennedy International Airport aboard a flight from Cuba where he had been living for four decades.

Soltren allegedly hijacked PanAm flight 281 with 103 passengers in 1968 after the flight for Puerto Rico took off from the JFK airport. He and other gunmen used weapons allegedly hidden in a diaper bag to divert the flight to Cuba. Apparently he decided to return to New York to be near relatives.

He requested bail after his arrest Sunday, which was denied.

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