A court in Zambia’s Ndola city has released four Croatian couples on bail after they were charged on allegations of attempted child trafficking.
Workers at the lodge say that the couples checked in without children, but on the third day of their stay they noticed they had four minors, from DR Congo, in their care, local media report.
Three of the children are aged three and the other; one year and three months, Lusaka Times reports.
The couples said they had adopted them, the news site reports, but Zambian authorities said they will verify the claim with their Congolese counterparts.
Testifying before Chief Resident Magistrate Dominic Makalicha, the guesthouse’s General Manager, Estelle Banda, told the court that she got suspicious after the four couples checked-in.
Receptionist Ethel Chabala also told the court that she saw the children days after the couples checked in, and that the minors were crying uncontrollably, a matter that raised suspicion that they may have been held against their will.
The hotel staff informed the police of their suspicions leading to the arrest of the eight Croatian nationals.
They all pleaded not guilty. The trial resumes on 23 January.
A witness has told the ourt that the the #Croatian couples only had the children from #DRC two days after check-in.This is a matter in which eight people of Croatian descent are charged with suspected human trafficking with children aged btw 1 year 6 months and 3 yrs old. #Zambia pic.twitter.com/LYG0NtDUKG
— Mwebantu (@Mwebantu) January 12, 2023
