Qatar sentenced a Los Angeles couple to three years in jail on Thursday for causing the death of their 8-year-old adopted African-born daughter, Reuters reported.
In a case that has raised concern in Washington, Gloria Huang was found to have starved to death under the care of Matthew and Grace Huang.
The parents, later arrested in January last year, have been charged with "murder with intent by forced starvation" by the prosecutor.
According to Reuters, Gloria's autopsy showed that she had died of "cachexia and dehydration." Cachexia is an irreversible loss of body mass.
However, Gloria was inflicted with malnutrition-related diseases since her adoption from Ghana at the age of 4, the couple have disputed. They have also accused the Qatari authorities of not acknowledging this fact.
"The judge reading the verdict did not specify what offence the couple had been convicted of, but the prosecution had earlier downgraded an original charge of premeditated murder to one of 'murder by negligence,'" Reuters reported.
"We have just been wrongfully convicted and we feel as if we are being kidnapped by the Qatar judicial system," Matthew Huang said. "This verdict is wrong and appears to be nothing more than an effort to save face."
The U.S. was "surprised and disappointed by the trial court's decision," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Thursday in Washington.
Harf told a regular news briefing that U.S. officials "have had some concerns throughout the trial by indications that not all of the evidence was weighed by the court and that some cultural misunderstandings may have led to an unfair trial."
"We have talked to the government (of Qatar) about this. We will continue to. And I do believe there is some sort of appeal process," Harf said.
A website created to publicize the case (https://freemattandgrace.com) said Matthew, a Stanford-trained engineer, had moved to Qatar with his wife and their three young children in 2012 to help oversee a big infrastructure project related to the 2022 soccer World Cup, Reuters reported.
