French ‘bandits’ to face trial in Chad

PARIS – Chad intends to try 10 Europeans accused of abducting 103 African children, despite an appeal from French President Nicolas Sarkozy to hear the case in France, Chadian Interior Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir said.

France and Chad have a judicial cooperation agreement that could make it possible for the six French members of the group to be tried in France, and Sarkozy said on Sunday he would prefer that. “It’s perfectly clear, the actions were committed in Chad,” Bachir said in an interview with French daily Le Parisien published yesterday.”That is why these bandits must be tried and sentenced here.””They also have to serve their sentence here: let them taste our prisons,” he said, adding that it would be “an insult” to the Chadian people to hear the case in France.”When our criminals are arrested in your country, they’re not brought here.Let’s be serious, those accused should be judged in Chad.”Six of the 10 Europeans held in Chad are members of the French humanitarian activist group ‘Zoe’s Ark’, which has said it intended to fly out orphans from Darfur and place them with European families for foster care.But UN and Chadian officials say most of the 103 children, who are between 1 and 10 years old, have at least one person they consider a parent and came from the violent Chad-Sudan border area.Three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants arrested when the operation was uncovered were released at the weekend after Sarkozy flew to Chad in person.The case has caused outrage in Chad, where President Idriss Deby initially suggested the children could have ended up being sold to a paedophile ring or used to supply human organs.But in France, alongside repeated condemnation of the operation by French officials, there has been growing concern about the fate of the group, which is generally considered misguided and foolish rather than criminal.Nampa-Reuters”It’s perfectly clear, the actions were committed in Chad,” Bachir said in an interview with French daily Le Parisien published yesterday.”That is why these bandits must be tried and sentenced here.””They also have to serve their sentence here: let them taste our prisons,” he said, adding that it would be “an insult” to the Chadian people to hear the case in France.”When our criminals are arrested in your country, they’re not brought here.Let’s be serious, those accused should be judged in Chad.”Six of the 10 Europeans held in Chad are members of the French humanitarian activist group ‘Zoe’s Ark’, which has said it intended to fly out orphans from Darfur and place them with European families for foster care.But UN and Chadian officials say most of the 103 children, who are between 1 and 10 years old, have at least one person they consider a parent and came from the violent Chad-Sudan border area.Three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants arrested when the operation was uncovered were released at the weekend after Sarkozy flew to Chad in person.The case has caused outrage in Chad, where President Idriss Deby initially suggested the children could have ended up being sold to a paedophile ring or used to supply human organs.But in France, alongside repeated condemnation of the operation by French officials, there has been growing concern about the fate of the group, which is generally considered misguided and foolish rather than criminal.Nampa-Reuters