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| Qatar Frees, Then Detains, U.S. Couple Accused of Killing Adopted Daughter | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| DOHA, Qatar — An American couple was acquitted of wrongdoing Sunday by an appeals court in the death of their adopted African daughter after a nearly two-year legal ordeal. But their attempt to leave Qatar was thwarted hours later when immigration officials refused to allow them to depart Doha’s airport. | |
| In a roller-coaster day of legal ups and downs, the couple, Matthew and Grace Huang from Los Angeles, had their passports confiscated in the airport departure area as American diplomatic officials, including the United States ambassador, Dana Shell Smith, were closeted in private with Qatari officials nearby. | |
| “Whatever excitement they had has been replaced by fear,” Eric Volz, a member of the legal team that has been representing the Huangs, said in telephone interview from the airport. “It’s like a showdown here.” | |
| He said that it was unclear why the Huangs were not permitted to leave and that the Qatar Attorney General’s office might have ordered the couple to remain in the country pending a possible further appeal of their acquittal by the prosecution. Such an appeal apparently is allowed under Qatar law. | |
| Earlier in the appellate courtroom, the Huangs sobbed and hugged friends and family as the judge said they were free to go and that the prosecution’s case against them was deeply flawed. | |
| The Huangs immediately departed the courtroom with their legal representatives and sought to make arrangements to leave Qatar and fly home to reunite with their two other children, both adopted boys from Africa. | |
| Asked outside the court what she was looking forward to the most, Mrs. Huang said, “Seeing our kids, seeing our sons.” | Asked outside the court what she was looking forward to the most, Mrs. Huang said, “Seeing our kids, seeing our sons.” |
| The parents spent nearly a year in prison before their case was heard for the first time last November, when they were released but ordered to remain in Qatar. Their other two children already had been sent home to the United States in the custody of Mrs. Huang’s mother. | The parents spent nearly a year in prison before their case was heard for the first time last November, when they were released but ordered to remain in Qatar. Their other two children already had been sent home to the United States in the custody of Mrs. Huang’s mother. |
| Last March, the couple was found guilty of a reduced charge, child endangerment, and sentenced to three years in prison. They appealed to have the verdict dismissed, while prosecutors sought a more severe sentence. The Huangs were ordered to remain in Qatar pending the appeals court decision. | Last March, the couple was found guilty of a reduced charge, child endangerment, and sentenced to three years in prison. They appealed to have the verdict dismissed, while prosecutors sought a more severe sentence. The Huangs were ordered to remain in Qatar pending the appeals court decision. |
| On Sunday, the appellate judge, Abdul Rahman al-Sharafi, discredited the prosecution’s case point by point in his ruling, a highly unusual development in the Qatari judicial system where prosecutors and the police are often heavily favored. | On Sunday, the appellate judge, Abdul Rahman al-Sharafi, discredited the prosecution’s case point by point in his ruling, a highly unusual development in the Qatari judicial system where prosecutors and the police are often heavily favored. |
| Judge Sharafi said it was clear that the Huangs were good parents who cared for their children, as shown by witness testimony and that their two other children were not abused. He also questioned, as the Huangs’ defense lawyers had done, the integrity of the forensic report that was the crux of the prosecution’s case. | Judge Sharafi said it was clear that the Huangs were good parents who cared for their children, as shown by witness testimony and that their two other children were not abused. He also questioned, as the Huangs’ defense lawyers had done, the integrity of the forensic report that was the crux of the prosecution’s case. |
| “The defense offered plenty of proof that they are not guilty,” he said. | “The defense offered plenty of proof that they are not guilty,” he said. |
| Mr. Huang, reached later by telephone, said it was the first time in the case that a judge had acknowledged all the reasons the prosecution’s case was groundless. | Mr. Huang, reached later by telephone, said it was the first time in the case that a judge had acknowledged all the reasons the prosecution’s case was groundless. |
| “We were very excited by the decision today,” Mr. Huang said. “We are glad the truth came out.” | “We were very excited by the decision today,” Mr. Huang said. “We are glad the truth came out.” |
| The case took on added significance as the State Department repeatedly expressed its concern about the fairness of the prosecution, which originally charged the Huangs with murder in the death of their 8-year-old daughter, Gloria, in January 2012, and had suggested that the Huangs were child traffickers. | The case took on added significance as the State Department repeatedly expressed its concern about the fairness of the prosecution, which originally charged the Huangs with murder in the death of their 8-year-old daughter, Gloria, in January 2012, and had suggested that the Huangs were child traffickers. |
| The prosecution had argued that the Huangs had killed Gloria by denying her food. The Huangs said she had an eating disorder, a vestige of her impoverished upbringing in Africa. A precise cause of death was never established. | The prosecution had argued that the Huangs had killed Gloria by denying her food. The Huangs said she had an eating disorder, a vestige of her impoverished upbringing in Africa. A precise cause of death was never established. |
| The case laid bare some ingrained prejudices in Qatar about adoption and multiracial families. Part of the original prosecution argument rested on suspicion that the Huangs, who are of Asian descent, could not have possibly adopted a black African girl and must have been seeking to sell her or her organs. | The case laid bare some ingrained prejudices in Qatar about adoption and multiracial families. Part of the original prosecution argument rested on suspicion that the Huangs, who are of Asian descent, could not have possibly adopted a black African girl and must have been seeking to sell her or her organs. |
| The Huangs had moved to Qatar in July 2012 with their children because Mr. Huang had been hired as a public works engineer in Doha as part of its preparations for the 2022 World Cup tournament. | The Huangs had moved to Qatar in July 2012 with their children because Mr. Huang had been hired as a public works engineer in Doha as part of its preparations for the 2022 World Cup tournament. |
| There was no immediate comment on the Huangs’ acquittal from Mr. Huang’s former employer, MWH Global, a leading international public works engineering firm based in Broomfield, Colo. | There was no immediate comment on the Huangs’ acquittal from Mr. Huang’s former employer, MWH Global, a leading international public works engineering firm based in Broomfield, Colo. |