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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| US missionaries in Haiti hearing | US missionaries in Haiti hearing |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Ten US missionaries are to learn if they will be charged with child trafficking for trying to smuggle children out of quake-ravaged Haiti. | Ten US missionaries are to learn if they will be charged with child trafficking for trying to smuggle children out of quake-ravaged Haiti. |
| The group's leader said they were hopeful of release as they were taken into court in the capital city Port-au-Prince for a hearing on Thursday. | The group's leader said they were hopeful of release as they were taken into court in the capital city Port-au-Prince for a hearing on Thursday. |
| When stopped on the border last Friday, they said they were taking the children to a Dominican Republic orphanage. | When stopped on the border last Friday, they said they were taking the children to a Dominican Republic orphanage. |
| But it has emerged some of the 33 youngsters had parents who were alive. | But it has emerged some of the 33 youngsters had parents who were alive. |
| As she entered the closed-door hearing, mission leader Laura Silsby told reporters: "We expect God's will be done. And we will be released." | As she entered the closed-door hearing, mission leader Laura Silsby told reporters: "We expect God's will be done. And we will be released." |
| But their lawyer, Edwin Coq, told AFP news agency he thought charges were likely to be dismissed against all except the group leader. | But their lawyer, Edwin Coq, told AFP news agency he thought charges were likely to be dismissed against all except the group leader. |
| 'Kidnappers' | |
| "In my opinion they're all innocent, but the court may prosecute the leader of the group," he was quoted as saying. | "In my opinion they're all innocent, but the court may prosecute the leader of the group," he was quoted as saying. |
| The five men and five women, mostly from Idaho, were due to have a hearing earlier in the week, but that was postponed because of a lack of interpreters. | The five men and five women, mostly from Idaho, were due to have a hearing earlier in the week, but that was postponed because of a lack of interpreters. |
| Haiti's Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has labelled the Americans "kidnappers". | |
| Residents in the villagers of Callebas told a reporter from AP news agency they had handed their children over through a local orphanage worker who said he was acting on the Americans' behalf. | |
| The worker is said to have promised the families that the missionaries would educate their children in neighbouring Dominican Republic. | |
| A number of parents in the badly-damaged village said they would find it difficult to provide for their children if they came back. | |
| "I am living in a tent with a friend," one parent, Laurentius Lelly, told AP. He said he had given up his two children, ages four and six. |