The Trade in a Newborn Life in Kumanovo: Harsh Sentences for Baby-Selling Network

The Basic Criminal Court in Skopje has handed down lengthy prison sentences in a shocking case of child trafficking. According to the ruling by presiding judge Fanka Janchuleva Mihajlovska, a newborn girl, instead of going home with her biological mother after being born at the hospital in Kumanovo, was taken to the apartment of a couple from Skopje.

Coordinated meetings, medical examinations, phone communications and financial support for the pregnant woman had previously been arranged. To cover up the crime, a false notarised document was drafted, claiming that the baby’s biological father was the very person who bought her: a married man whose couple had been unable to have children.

The court investigation established that this was an unlawful, genuine transfer of the baby, mediated by a social worker from the Centre for Social Work, known as a child guardian. She also has another pending case for the same criminal offence. The ultimate aim was to bypass the regular legal adoption process.

The role of the social worker, who was not employed full-time at the Centre for Social Work but had also provided guardianship in previous cases, was crucial in connecting the couple with the biological mother. Without her direct involvement, the crime would not have been carried out.