The 10 American missionaries who were arrested last week-end in Haiti were formally charged on Thursday with “child trafficking and criminal association”, CNN is reporting.
Earlier this afternoon, the Americans were brought before three Haitian prosecutors where they were interviewed for two hours, prior to learning their fate. Following the interviews they were transported back to their jail cells.
The missionaries who traveled to Haiti in the wake of the massive earthquake on January 12th, were seeking to take 33 “orphans” out of the country into the Dominican Republic. They said they were on a “divine mission”.
It has been revealed that the missionaries did not have permission from the Haitian government to remove the children.
While the missionaries claimed they did have the consent of officials of the Dominican Republic, there are reports they were warned not to attempt to take the children without approval of the Haitian authorities.
The missionaries have said too, that the children were “orphans” whom they wanted to help. As it turned out, some Haitian parents voluntarily gave up their children, presumably for a better life.
There are reports that the charges are so serious that it is unlikely the missionaries would be released on bail. It is unclear too, what the next steps are likely to be, given the disarray of Haiti’s justice system.
