The eight Croatian nationals who were arrested in Zambia last month, due to suspicion in the authenticity of documents on the adoption of four children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will appear in court for the first time in Ndola, Zambia on Tuesday, the Croatian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

A Croatian Embassy official in Pretoria has visited them in prison again and will be present at the hearing, a press release said.

Four Croatian couples were arrested in Zambia in early December on suspicion of human trafficking and the authenticity of the adoption documents from DR Congo.

The embassy cannot interfere in legal proceedings conducted by another state, but a request was once again made via the relevant Zambian authorities and a court-appointed defender that the detained Croatian nationals be treated humanely, that their dignity be respected, that they be given medical assistance if needed, that they be questioned in a language they understand, and that their guilt not be assumed, regardless of the gravity of the crime they are suspected of, the ministry said.

The embassy official was prevented from visiting the children picked up by social services in Zambia. According to Zambian authorities, they are safe and not in any danger.

The Croatian nationals will continue to receive consular assistance in line with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the ministry said.