PARDON IN BABY SMUGGLING CASE SEEN

Boston Globe
Author: Associated Press

LONDON -- Romania's president promised yesterday to pardon a British couple sentenced to prison for allegedly trying to smuggle a baby out of his country. Romanian President Ion Iliescu said Adrian and Bernadette Mooney, who cannot have children themselves, ''had a good reason to adopt a Romanian child.''

The Mooneys, of Wokingham in southeastern England, were sentenced Oct. 14 to 28 months in jail for trying to leave the country with 5-month-old Monica Baiaram.

Their case was seen as a warning to others hoping to bypass Romania's adoption laws. Many Westerners have tried to adopt Romanian children since the December 1989 revolution exposed the squalor of state orphanages.

Nearly 100,000 children were found languishing in the orphanages.

The Mooneys were convicted of paying the equivalent of $6,400 to three middlemen. The middlemen and the baby's 17-year-old parents also received prison sentences.

The Mooneys, forbidden to leave Romania, are staying in an apartment in Bucharest with their daughter Grace, 3, whom they adopted legally in Romania. The baby is in a state orphanage.

Iliescu, meeting Prime Minister John Major yesterday, said he will grant a pardon if the Mooneys are not successful in their Nov. 9 appeal.