Belgian who tried to flee with Congolese adopted child into the cell for six months

(google translation)

Belgian who tried to flee with Congolese adopted child into the cell for six months

April 15 , 17:26

Laurence Senechal, a Belgian woman who resides in the Congo, was sentenced by the district court in Kinshasa - Gombe to imprisonment of six months and a fine of the equivalent of 325 euros.

The woman tried on Sunday, unsuccessfully, to flee with her adopted child from the country. Two agents of the Congolese immigration service get three months in prison for complicity. UN Radio Okapi has that message on his website.

moratorium

The woman was arrested Sunday while trying to check in herself and her 4 - year-old adopted child at the airport N'Djili (Kinshasa ).

Since November there is a moratorium on adoptions in the African country, after suspicions of fraud and human trafficking. Belgian adoptive parents of seven orphans in Kinshasa are blocked, although they have the necessary Congolese and Belgian documents.

Last weekend one of the mothers tried with her adopted child to leave the country, but she was arrested. The woman was brought to the Congolese authorities and is currently in custody.

According to the prosecution Laurence Senechal confessed that she had bribed agents of the immigration service.

The woman fainted when she was told the verdict of the magistrate. She was taken to the hospital. Her daughter is currently staying at the Belgian Embassy, pending a solution.

"We offer all possible consular assistance to the mother and are in contact with the family in Belgium," a Foreign Ministry spokesman stated. The condition of the other orphans is closely monitored, it reads.