Baptists Arrested For Haitian Kidnapping
Haitian officials have charged 10 Baptist missionaries from the U.S. with child abduction and criminal conspiracy for their role in attempting to smuggle 33 children out of Haiti following that country's devastating earthquake.
The Americans, most of whom are affiliated with Idaho's Central Valley Baptist Church, were stopped at Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic on Jan. 29, with the children in their custody, as AOL News reported.
After a hearing today in Port-au-Prince, a judge found there was sufficient evidence to charge the Americans.
According to Laura Silsby, one of the leaders of the American group, the missionaries were trying to take the children to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, but she admits that they lacked the proper paperwork, including passports for the children and government approval for adoption proceedings.
Some of the parents of the children are still alive, however, and Haiti's prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, has accused the missionaries of kidnapping, though he said the court could show leniency if it determines the Americans were trying to help the children.
The Americans charged remain under detention in a Port-au-Prince prison. A verdict in the trial could take as long as three months, ABC News said. If found guilty on both charges, the missionaries could face prison sentences ranging from eight to 24 years.
In recent days, there were reports that Haitian and American officials were talking about trying the group in the U.S., since the prospects are daunting for organizing a trial under the country's current conditions.
State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said the U.S. was trying to understand the Idaho group's motive. "Clearly, there are questions of procedure as to whether they had the appropriate paperwork to move the children," Crowley said Wednesday.
The Americans, most of whom are affiliated with Idaho's Central Valley Baptist Church, were stopped at Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic on Jan. 29, with the children in their custody, as AOL News reported.
After a hearing today in Port-au-Prince, a judge found there was sufficient evidence to charge the Americans.
According to Laura Silsby, one of the leaders of the American group, the missionaries were trying to take the children to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, but she admits that they lacked the proper paperwork, including passports for the children and government approval for adoption proceedings.
Some of the parents of the children are still alive, however, and Haiti's prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, has accused the missionaries of kidnapping, though he said the court could show leniency if it determines the Americans were trying to help the children.
The Americans charged remain under detention in a Port-au-Prince prison. A verdict in the trial could take as long as three months, ABC News said. If found guilty on both charges, the missionaries could face prison sentences ranging from eight to 24 years.
In recent days, there were reports that Haitian and American officials were talking about trying the group in the U.S., since the prospects are daunting for organizing a trial under the country's current conditions.
State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said the U.S. was trying to understand the Idaho group's motive. "Clearly, there are questions of procedure as to whether they had the appropriate paperwork to move the children," Crowley said Wednesday.
posted by chickcomics | 6:28 PM
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