A Zambian magistrate on Thursday granted bail to eight Croatian nationals accused of child trafficking.
Magistrate David Makalicha in Ndola, in the mineral-rich Copperbelt province, said the eight should each post bail of about $1,000 and hand over their passports to the court.
The eight were named as Damir Magic, 44, Nadica Magic, 45, Zoran Subosic, 52, Azra Imamovic Subosic, 41, Ladislav Persic, 42, Aleksandra Persic, 40, Noah Kraljevic, 45, and Ivona Kraljevic, 46, when they first appeared in court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to child trafficking charges.
They are defended by a public defender, Kelvin Silwimba. In charges brought to court, the Croats are accused of attempting to smuggle four children late last year into Zambia “for the purpose of exploitation”.
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The media in Croatia reported that the detained Croatians were four couples and that among them was Zoran Subosic, guitarist of the well-known band Hladno Pivo, or Cold Beer.
On Thursday, witnesses included an immigration officer and the manager of a guest house.
Mercy Phiri, an immigration officer at Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, said she was tipped off that some Croats were planning to leave the country through the airport with black children.
Seven of the eight Croatian nationals charged with attempting to traffic children exit a vehicle outside the magistrates court in Ndola, Zambia on January 10, 2023. The Croatian nationals have pleaded not guilty to the child trafficking charge.
(AP Photo/Salim Dawood)
“I alerted the officers in the departure booth of the airport terminal to be aware of the Croats with Congolese children. Later, I was informed that the same people were in the departure booth, ”he told the court.
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Phiri said the Croats were reported to have four children identified as Congolese citizens. She said a closer look at the children’s passports indicated they had entered Zambia through the Sakania border post used by Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Croats presented purported adoption documents showing that the couples had not traveled to Congo but were staying in Zambia. They claimed that a Congolese lawyer helped them adopt the children, Phiri said.
Esthele Banda, manager of a guest house where the Croats stayed for five days, told the court she became suspicious after seeing them with small children two days after checking in.
“We found out they had black children when one of the housekeepers found a baby of about a year old crying,” Banda said.
Banda said there was a communication barrier between the guest house staff, the children and the Croats due to language differences.
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“But after we noticed the baby was crying, we helped the couple take care of it,” he said, adding that he accompanied them to the airport as they were about to fly back to their country.
Banda said a man who booked rooms for the Croats told him the couples were in Zambia to adopt children from his foundation.
The trial continues on January 23.
