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US missionaries in Haiti hearing US missionaries charged in Haiti
(10 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 have been charged with child abduction and criminal conspiracy 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. If convicted they face lengthy jail terms, says the BBC's Paul Adams at the court hearing in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.
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."
But their lawyer, Edwin Coq, told AFP news agency he thought charges were likely to be dismissed against all except the group leader.
'Kidnappers''Kidnappers'
"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, most of them 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".Haiti's Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has labelled the Americans "kidnappers".
Residents in the village 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. Residents in the village of Callebas told an Associated Press news agency reporter 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.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.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."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.