An email:

My European agency confirmed (the first time) that the investigation (police and orphanages) is officially over and that they found nothing suspicious. All currently existing cases are ok. The next step will be a meeting between the court president and the orphanages, it should have taken place last Friday, then Monday/Tuesday and now it is postponed to an indefinite date.

They assume that the cases have to go through the whole process again, i. e. need new court dates.

An email:

Our agency (United States) told us that they are going to start reopening cases and rescheduling court dates starting on July 2nd. I don’t know how long it will take to get all of us new court dates, but our agency is optimistic that our cases, at least from our agency, will be heard before the closure. They are very careful about not passing on rumors, so I tend to believe them when they say cases will be reopened late next week.

*Note: This is not the same agency that mentioned the July 2nd date earlier this week.

An email (European agency):

Our agency has informed us this morning that the rumors of the decision following the court should have announced this week and to be imminent. Unknown if the cases involved for which the trial took place during this period of time required new trial date or not. Think not. Hope so.

*Updated: This person has clarified a little using their case as an example. Their court date was on May 29th. All of their documents were submitted to the court, but of course their case was not heard because it was for a child abandoned in Addis. The orphanage this child resides has been investigated and cleared. The agency has suggested that cases like this may not require a new court date. The agency believes they may just sign the necessary paperwork to pass the case.

Another US agency today is reporting that there won’t be an official decision from the court for another 2 weeks. This is the agency that has been keeping us updated about a meeting with the orphanage directors. The orphanage directors are supposed to call the office of the court in the next 2 weeks to find out the decision.

*Note: There is some conflicting information from the various agencies as far as a timeline for an official decision:
-2 US agencies and 1 European agency have told their clients it will be 2 weeks.
-1 US agency gave a deadline of July 2nd
-2 European agencies say there is a meeting this Friday to discuss a decision

It is possible that the 2 week timeline and the July 2nd timeline are the same information (depending on when the “2 week” wait began), and that the meeting on Friday is something different. We’ll just have to wait and see what unfolds.

From a non-US agency:


I just talked to my agency and they told me, that the meeting that was supposed to take place last friday is now sceduled for this friday. The president of the court is supposed to meet the directors of the orphanages and they try to find a solution on how to proceed. That would be brilliant because it means we don`t have to wait for two more weeks. But my agency also said that you never know whether the meeting really takes place. They confirmed as well that the investigation is definitively over.

A US agency is reporting that the final decision about the abandonment cases is supposed to be issued on July 2, 2009. This was confirmed to their coordinator by the judge today, June 23, 2009. This in-country rep has also heard the rumor that the courts will not close for the summer, but has not received any official word whether it's true.

*Note: This is not from the same agency we've been waiting to hear from concerning the outcome of the meeting, but it's possible that the July 2nd date was what was discussed in today's meeting with the orphanage directors and the court (if they held it).

A US agency is reporting that the scheduled meeting with the orphanage directors (to find out the court's ruling concerning abandonment cases) has been postponed until Tuesday.