Baptists in trafficking row may face US trial

HAITIAN officials said last night they are thinking of sending a group of US Baptists home for prosecution after they were arrested trying to take 33 children out of the country without government permission.

Officials said they hoped to quickly resolve the case while also sending a strong message that child trafficking will not be tolerated.

Haiti’s communications minister, Marie-Laurence Jocelin Lassegue, said Haitian and US officials were discussing the idea of trying the Baptists in the US because Haiti’s court system was crippled in the devastating January 12 earthquake, which destroyed the justice ministry building and killed many government officials.