Americans Detained in Haiti Appear in Court
- 14 years ago
Ten American missionaries have been detained in Haiti over charges of illegally attempting to take a group of children out of the country. The group will appear in court before a judge who will decide their fate.
A judge was set to decide on Thursday on whether to pursue a case against the ten American missionaries. They were arrested on Friday with a busload of 33 children they said were orphaned by the January 12th earthquake.
Surrounded by journalists, the missionaries left a police station where they have been detained, to go to a hearing in a local courthouse.
The accused missionaries deny they were engaged in child trafficking. They said they were just trying to help some of the thousands of orphans left destitute and abandoned by the quake.
Haitian officials said the detained Americans had no documents proving the children were orphans and no official permission to take them out of the country. So they could face kidnapping charges.
The situation became more complicated when authorities found that some of the children were not orphans.
Haitian police say some parents admitted to handing over their children to the American missionaries, hoping that they would get an education and a better life.
A judge was set to decide on Thursday on whether to pursue a case against the ten American missionaries. They were arrested on Friday with a busload of 33 children they said were orphaned by the January 12th earthquake.
Surrounded by journalists, the missionaries left a police station where they have been detained, to go to a hearing in a local courthouse.
The accused missionaries deny they were engaged in child trafficking. They said they were just trying to help some of the thousands of orphans left destitute and abandoned by the quake.
Haitian officials said the detained Americans had no documents proving the children were orphans and no official permission to take them out of the country. So they could face kidnapping charges.
The situation became more complicated when authorities found that some of the children were not orphans.
Haitian police say some parents admitted to handing over their children to the American missionaries, hoping that they would get an education and a better life.