Seven freed in Chad kidnap case
Nicolas Sarkozy's intervention appears to have helped secure the releases
Also In The News
|
Great Britain destroyed New Zealand 44-0 this evening at the KC Stadium in Hull to claim their first series win in 14 years. |  |
Sunday, 04, Nov 2007 04:50
French president Nicolas Sarkozy's trip to Chad has helped secure the release of seven Europeans held over an alleged child-smuggling conspiracy.
Mr Sarkozy met with Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby today to discuss the case, which involves an alleged attempt by French charity Zoe's Ark to smuggle over 100 children from Chad to France.
Three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants were freed today. They collected their belongings from the court before boarding a plane back to Europe, a spokesperson said.
Ten others, including six more French citizens, remain in custody, however. Charges remain in place against these, including the head of Zoe's Ark.
Mr Sarkozy's government has made clear its condemnation of the charity's alleged activities, describing the attempt to remove children for adoption in France as "inhumane… unthinkable… [and] inadmissible".
But Zoe's Ark and another charity implicated in the plot, Children Rescue, have denied they were attempting to remove the children to Europe for adoption purposes.
"These children were abandoned, enlisted by warlords. Some were drugged and armed. In addition they were malnourished and in an alarming state of health," Zoe's Ark secretary-general Stephanie Lefebvre said.