Woman admits buying baby for illegal adoption in Cyprus

A 47-year-old woman from the Philippines has admitted having bought a baby in her home country and presenting a fake a birth certificate naming herself as the mother and a Cypriot man as the father, the Nicosia criminal court heard on Wednesday.

The woman was arrested last month after suspicion that two men in a same sex partnership had illegally adopted a baby brought to Cyprus by a woman from the Philippines.

Police told court on Wednesday that the woman had given a false statement that she was the mother of an infant born in July 2017 in the Philippines and had presented a fake birth certificate that said she was the mother of the child and a Cypriot man the father.

The woman admitted to buying the baby in the Philippines and bringing it to Cyprus to be illegally adopted and that the documents she had presented to the Cypriot authorities were fake, the court heart.

She is facing 19 charges concerning child trafficking. If found guilty of child trafficking, she could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison.

The court procedure has been adjourned until March 13.

Police are still searching for the whereabouts of the two men, against whom European arrest warrants have been issued.

The couple, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish national, were believed to have fled to Turkey with the baby, after authorities detained the woman.

An Interpol Red Notice has also been issued on the request of the Cyprus police which is a request to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition.

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