Today's hearing before a Zambian court of Croatian nationals charged with child trafficking has been postponed, and the next hearings have been scheduled for 6 and 10 February, Croatian diplomatic sources said on Monday.

Four Croatian couples were arrested early in December at the airport of Ndola, Zambia’s third largest city, on suspicion of child trafficking because the validity of the documents on the adoption of minor children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was questionable.

Two weeks ago, a court in Ndola granted the request by the Croatian nationals for pre-trial release provided that they posted bail of an equivalent of $1,100 each, handed over their passports, regulated their stay in Zambia and found 16 people to guarantee for them. The only condition they have not met yet is regulation of their stay.

The adopted children, who have Croatian documents, have been placed in the care of Zambian social services. A Pretoria-based Croatian consul looks after the arrested Croatians and visits them in prison, but he has been denied permission to visit the children.