AID worker John Boast today pleaded not guilty to smuggling a 15-month-old baby out of Romania.
The former Great Harwood businessman is accused of "complicity" in the events leading to the girl being handed to a Yorkshire couple at an M1 service station.
He is charged with taking the child from an Oradea hospital and smuggling her across the Hungarian border on July 8, 1995.
"I am innocent. I am not guilty," Mr Boast, 46, told the court in Oradea in the far west of Romania, near the border with Hungary.
The case was adjourned until April 26 to hear defence and prosecution witnesses.
Mr Boast was prevented from leaving Romania after the youngster was smuggled out.
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