STORY: U.S. pair can't leave Qatar amid appeal," by reporter Rick Gladstone, published by the New York Times on April 9, 2014.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Grace and Matthew Huang, in Doha, shown in late March, fear being rearrested this week in their adopted daughter’s death."
GIST: "Matthew and Grace Huang, an American couple entangled in Qatar’s criminal justice system over the death of their adopted daughter, have been denied permission to fly home while the appeal of their three-year prison term is pending, and their lawyers said they might be incarcerated as early as Friday.........The Huangs, from Los Angeles, have asserted their innocence in a case with racial overtones and misconceptions about adoption that rights advocates say has cast a negative light on Qatar. The tiny but wealthy Persian Gulf emirate is a close United States ally, home to one of the most important American military bases in the Middle East. The State Department has expressed concern about the fairness of the trial.........Mr. Huang, 37, and his wife, 36, had been living in Doha with their three children, two boys and a girl, all adopted from Africa, because Mr. Huang, an engineer, was working on an infrastructure project in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. The parents were arrested in January 2013 after they took their unconscious daughter, Gloria, 8, to a hospital, asserting that she had refused food for four days because of an eating disorder not uncommon among adopted children from impoverished backgrounds. An autopsy by Qatari medical examiners concluded the child, who was extremely thin, had died from lack of nourishment. Prosecutors accused the Huangs of killing her and initially described them as suspected child traffickers because Gloria had been adopted from Ghana, and the police could not fathom that parents of Asian heritage would have African children. They were also suspicious because the Huangs had home-schooled the children, although that practice is not uncommon among Qatar’s large expatriate population."
PHOTO CAPTION: "Grace and Matthew Huang, in Doha, shown in late March, fear being rearrested this week in their adopted daughter’s death."
GIST: "Matthew and Grace Huang, an American couple entangled in Qatar’s criminal justice system over the death of their adopted daughter, have been denied permission to fly home while the appeal of their three-year prison term is pending, and their lawyers said they might be incarcerated as early as Friday.........The Huangs, from Los Angeles, have asserted their innocence in a case with racial overtones and misconceptions about adoption that rights advocates say has cast a negative light on Qatar. The tiny but wealthy Persian Gulf emirate is a close United States ally, home to one of the most important American military bases in the Middle East. The State Department has expressed concern about the fairness of the trial.........Mr. Huang, 37, and his wife, 36, had been living in Doha with their three children, two boys and a girl, all adopted from Africa, because Mr. Huang, an engineer, was working on an infrastructure project in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. The parents were arrested in January 2013 after they took their unconscious daughter, Gloria, 8, to a hospital, asserting that she had refused food for four days because of an eating disorder not uncommon among adopted children from impoverished backgrounds. An autopsy by Qatari medical examiners concluded the child, who was extremely thin, had died from lack of nourishment. Prosecutors accused the Huangs of killing her and initially described them as suspected child traffickers because Gloria had been adopted from Ghana, and the police could not fathom that parents of Asian heritage would have African children. They were also suspicious because the Huangs had home-schooled the children, although that practice is not uncommon among Qatar’s large expatriate population."
The entire story can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
