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>Agence France-Presse

A Spanish court on Friday convicted a couple of drugging and suffocating their 12-year-old adopted Chinese daughter, in a case that has drawn the attention of Beijing.
Rosario Porto, a former lawyer, and her ex-husband, journalist Alfonso  Basterra, had been accused of periodically drugging their daughter Asunta Yong Fang Basterra Porto with the sedative Orfidal for three months and finally asphyxiating her in September 2013.
The child’s body was found in a wood near northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela.
LOOKING BACK: Spanish couple accused of killing 12-year-old adopted Chinese daughter 
A jury unanimously found the pair guilty of murdering Asunta, who they had adopted as a baby, after a month-long trial in which they had insisted their  innocence.
They could face up to 20 years in jail.
“They were found guilty of murder,” said a spokesman for the regional appeals court in Galicia, northwest Spain.
The court added in a statement: “The jury judged that the victim would not  have been able to defend herself and refused to acquit the two accused.”
More than a hundred witnesses and experts had been called to testify during  the high-profile trial and the jury had been deliberating since Monday.
Prosecutors charged that the murder had been planned by both parents, but  carried out by the mother.
READ MORE: Charges against Spanish parents of China-born girl upped to murder
During the trial Porto told the court that she had been suffering from  depression that year and had herself been taking Orfidal.
At the time of the girl’s death, the couple were separated but were raising  their adopted daughter together.
The case shocked Spain and drew international attention when it came to  light, prompting a statement of concern by the Chinese foreign ministry.


Spanish couple found guilty of murdering 12-year-old adopted Chinese daughter

Rosario Porto (R) and her ex-husband Alfonso Basterra drugged and suffocated their Chinese daughter Asunta Yong Fang Basterra Porto. Photo: EPA

Image from court CCTV shows Rosario Porto (L) and her ex-husband Alfonso Basterra (front) during their trial. Photo: EPA

‘As parents we did our best’: Spanish mother accused of suffocating adopted Chinese daughter denies sedating her

Asunta Basterra was found dead in a forest near the town of Santiago de Compostela in 2013. Photo: Grupo INTV

Alfonso Basterra and his ex-wife Rosario Porto attend their trial over the alleged killing of their adopted child Asunta Basterra, 12, at a court in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, on Thursday. Photo: EPA

Spanish couple accused of killing 12-year-old adopted Chinese daughter

The couple and their adopted daughter. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Charges against Spanish parents of China-born girl upped to murder 

 A girl looks the mural with pictures of Asunta Basterra, the 12-year-old girl of Chinese origin who was found dead on 22 September. Photo: EPA

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