Eight Croatian citizens were acquitted of child trafficking in a court in Zambia in Ndola. The judge found that all the documents are correct and that the children were adopted according to all the rules.
It is expected that the Croatian citizens will be released immediately, Croatian Radio and Television announced.
Four Croatian couples wanted to adopt children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, however, when they wanted to board a plane with the children on December 7 last year in Ndola, a town not far from the border with the DR Congo, they were arrested, and the children were placed in a state institution for the care of to children
They are accused of attempted human trafficking and falsification of documents.
The DR Congo, from where the children were brought, prohibits international adoptions of children - its citizens - with some exceptions regulated by interstate agreements.
After a month and a half of detention, on January 23, they were granted bail, and on February 6, the state judiciary withdrew the indictment, and they were given 48 hours to leave Zambia.
However, on February 7, they were arrested again before boarding the plane to leave Zambia and detained again - on the same charges. After paying bail again on February 22, they were released on parole.
The trial was adjourned, after judge Mary Mulanda heard all prosecution witnesses and assessed that the state failed to prove the charges against Croats and two other defendants from Zambia, Steven Muli and Gloria Sakulenga, for alleged child trafficking.
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