Suspects appear in French court for allegedly selling Roma babies in 2013
Four Romanians are to appear this week in court in Marseille on suspicions of involvement in a baby trafficking network. They face up to 10 years in prison.
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According to the prosecution, they were thought to have acted as intermediaries between childless couples and people from the Roma community.
The case began in July 2013 when a newborn boy was allegedly sold in a Marseille hospital for 8,000 euros and a used car.
Investigators later traced the biological mother – a Roma mother of five – after the hospital reported that a couple had stayed two days at her bedside before she left hospital without her newborn.
The adoptive parents could face up to two years in prison and a 30,000-euro fine.
Police officers assume that a family network of baby trafficking has operated in south-east France and Corsica.
So far, four newborns are concerned – two boys and two girls – although only the baby boys have been effectively sold.
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