After being charged with attempted child trafficking, a court in Zambia’s Ndola city granted bail to four Croatian couples.
The suspects all pleaded not guilty.
According to workers at a guesthouse, the couples checked in without children, but on the third day of their stay, they discovered they had four minors from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their care, according to local media.
According to the Lusaka Times, three of the children were three years old and one was 15 months old.
According to the news site, the couples claimed to have adopted them, but Zambian authorities said they will confirm the claim with their Congolese counterparts.
Estelle Banda, the guesthouse’s General Manager, testified before Chief Resident Magistrate Dominic Makalicha that she became suspicious after the four couples checked in.
Ethel Chabala, the receptionist, also told the court that she saw the children days after the couples checked in and that the minors were crying uncontrollably, raising the possibility that they were being held against their will.
The hotel staff reported their suspicions to the police, which resulted in the arrest of the eight Croatian nationals.
The trial will resume on January 23rd.
A witness has told the ourt that the the #Croatian couples only had the children from #DRC two days after check-in.This is a matter in which eight people of Croatian descent are charged with suspected human trafficking with children aged btw 1 year 6 months and 3 yrs old. #Zambia pic.twitter.com/LYG0NtDUKG
— Mwebantu (@Mwebantu) January 12, 2023
