A French court on Monday sentenced six charity workers to eight years in prison after they were convicted in Chad of trying to abduct more than 100 children from the border with war-torn Darfur.
The founder and five members of French charity Zoe's Ark were sentenced to eight years hard labor in Chad last month on charges of attempted kidnapping, but were later repatriated to France where no such penalty exists.
Angry shouts broke out in court as the sentences were read out, with the aid workers' families and friends attacking the judges as "criminals" and "bastards."
Zoe's Ark founder Eric Breteau, his partner Emilie Lelouch, logistics chief Alain Peligat, volunteer firefighter Dominique Aubry and doctor Philippe van Winkelberg were all present at the court in the Paris suburb of Creteil.
From inside the courtroom's glass-enclosed box, Lelouch raised a clenched fist in protest.
"This is a farce. I am ashamed to be French," said Souad Merimi, whose sister Nadia, the team nurse, was hospitalized for exhaustion after being repatriated and was not present to hear the verdict.
"Nadia doesn't deserve this, it's unacceptable," she said. "I really trusted the French justice system. This is a terrible blow."
The court was charged with converting the Chadian sentences into French law, without reviewing the verdict of the initial trial -- denounced by defense lawyers as a "farce."
It ruled that the Chadian conviction was equivalent to the French offence of "detention and sequestration of minors under 15 years of age," punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment.
Defense lawyers, who argued that the French court had a duty to repair "a terrible injustice," immediately announced their intention to appeal.
"This is unjust," charged Breteau's lawyer Gilbert Collard, saying: "The only solution is to appeal and to hope that [President Nicolas] Sarkozy gets involved."
Lawyer Mario Stasi, who represents Merimi, said the verdict was "a second conviction, just as iniquitous as the first."
During the four-day trial in Ndjamena, the Zoe's Ark members had claimed innocence, saying they were misled by middlemen into believing the children were orphans from the Sudanese region of Darfur which borders eastern Chad.
Breteau went on hunger strike after he and the others were repatriated to France and detained in a prison outside Paris pending a sentencing decision.
But the French court ruled there had been no "blatant denial of justice" during their Chadian trial.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS