France to seek Chad staff return
Members of the organization Zoe's Ark have been convicted in Chad.
Quote:
The French government says it will ask the Chadian authorities to return six French aid workers home following a conviction for attempted kidnap.
The six employees of French charity Zoe's Ark were sentenced to eight years hard labour, for trying to take more than 100 children out of the country.
They say they believed they were evacuating orphan refugees from Darfur.
But most of the children were found to be from Chad, which borders Darfur, and with parents who were still alive.
Under a 30-year-old agreement between the two nations, offenders can be returned to their native country to serve their sentences.
Diplomatic sources in Chad say a transfer could happen soon, although the authorities there are not obliged to agree and France has no punishment of hard labour.
The case has sparked outrage in the former French colony.
|
Instead of spinning this in one direction or another, come to your own conclusions.