Asian Couple Denied Exit Out of Qatar Despite Appeals Acquittal In Adopted Daughter’s Death
A Qatar appeals court has cleared an American couple of allegedly killing their adopted daughter from Ghana after two years of legal battles. However, as they tried leaving the country, immigration officials thwarted their attempt and would not let them leave the country’s airport in Doha.
The couple – Matthew and Grace Huang – was suspected of killing their eight-year-old adopted daughter by starving her in January 2013. However, the couple said the little girl had an eating disorder, a remnant of her impoverished lifestyle in Africa. A cause of death has never been established.
Prosecutors alleged the Huangs were child traffickers. The case brought to life some of the ingrained prejudices in Qatar about multiracial families and adoption. The Huangs are Asian descent and authorities did not believe they adopted a black African girl and were going to sell her organs on the black market.
As the couple tried to leave the airport, their passports were confiscated and they and the American diplomatic officials like U.S. ambassador Dana Shell Smith were escorted to a private area.
Eric Volz, a member of the couple’s legal team, said excitement the couple had was replaced with fear. He said it’s a showdown. Volz said he wasn’t sure why the couple has not been granted to leave and that the Qatar Attorney General office may have demanded the couple stay in the country until a possible further appeal of their acquittal is looked into by the prosecution. While it’s unusual, it’s not disallowed, he said.
Volz said another reason could be the Qatari bureaucracy delaying their leave, perhaps a written order lifting the travel ban be necessary instead of just the ruling by the appellate court.
In the courtroom, the couple hugged each other and cried as the judge told them they were free to leave and that the prosecution’s case against them was seriously inconsistent. They left right away and made arrangements to get home to their other children – both adopted boys from Uganda and Ghana.
Huang said it’s been an emotional roller-coaster and that he and his wife look forward to be reunited with their sons. He said the experience has made them unable to mourn the loss of their daughter. Huang said he is grateful the judge made the right decision.
The family had moved to the region in July 2012 because Mr. Huang was hired by Broomfield, Colo.-based MWH Global as a public works engineer for Doha, in preparation for the 2022 World Cup tournament.
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