Laura Silsby And Nine Other Missionaries Charged With Smuggling Haitian Children
February 5th, 2010 - 9:05 pm ICT by GDBy Gina Gomez
Feb 5, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Laura Silsby and nine other American missionaries have been charged with attempting to smuggle out 33 children from the earthquake ravaged island nation of Haiti. It has been revealed that the American group would not be facing trial in United States but the legal proceedings would be according to the Haitian legal system. The charges that have been levied against the ten Americans can entitle them to rigorous imprisonment for about 15 years. Meanwhile, the Americans were interviewed by prosecutors in a meeting that was held in Port-au-Prince.
The missionary group’s attorney Edwin Coq, had added that after taking into consideration all the evidences that have been available, an investigative judge might take around three months to come up with the final verdict in the case. However, Haitian deputy prosecutor Jean Ferge Joseph has implied that the group might be freed or be held for further legal proceedings by the investigative judge.
Laura Silsby and the group of missionaries from Meridian’s Central Valley Baptist Church, were intercepted on Friday with the children at the Dominican Republic border as they supposedly lacked the proper papers. When the group came to the Haiti city of Port-au-Prince, they were taken into custody for child trafficking.
The Haitian officials have emphasized that the Americans were arrested as they did not have the proper authorization or relevant documents to take the Haitian children out of the Caribbean nation.
Meanwhile, Laura Silsby had earlier claimed that the children were being deported as they were orphans. However, later it has come to light that many children were given to the group by their parents to ensure a better life for them.
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- Americans who tried to illegally take Haitian children to be tried in court - Feb 03, 2010
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