/ 6 November 2007

Europeans questioned in ‘kidnap’ hearings in Chad

A Chadian judge was to question several Europeans on Tuesday who face kidnap and other charges for trying to fly 103 children, supposedly orphans from Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, to France.

Originally, 17 Europeans and four Chadians were arrested after the Zoe’s Ark charity tried to fly the children out of Chad on October 25.

But three French journalists and four Spanish air hostesses were released by the Chadian authorities and taken home by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday after he carried out a surprise visit to assuage anger in Chad.

Ten Europeans and four Chadians remain in custody.

Five of the six detained workers from Zoe’s Ark, all French nationals, were taken to the main court in the Chadian capital Ndjamena on Monday.

One of them, Emilie Lelouch, was questioned and the others were to be heard on Tuesday, a judicial source said. They face hard labour prison terms if convicted.

Three Spaniards — the pilot, co-pilot and a steward from the plane that was to have taken the children to France — were also questioned on Monday and emerged from their hearings appearing relaxed and giving the thumbs up.

Their lawyer, Jean-Bernard Padare, said they had responded to all the judge’s questions. He declared himself “confident”.

None of the charges — which range from abduction of minors to fraud and complicity — have been dropped against any of the 21 suspects in the case.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero called Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno on Monday urging him to treat the Spaniards “in the best possible way” within the framework of Chadian law.

He thanked Deby for the release of the four Spanish air hostesses, a Zapatero aide said.

Zapatero was criticised by opposition leaders for his alleged inaction after Sarkozy returned to Europe with seven of those detained.

Junior foreign minister Bernardino Leon rejected the criticism, telling Cadena Ser radio the government had “worked very hard” for the release of the air hostesses.

The head of the Zoe’s Ark charity, another Frenchman Eric Breteau, was questioned on Saturday and took no part in the latest proceedings.

The four local government officials from eastern Chad and a 75-year-old Belgian pilot who flew the children from the Chad border with Darfur to Abeche were also kept out of the new questioning.

Zoe’s Ark maintains that its Children Rescue operation was a bid to save orphan refugees from Sudan’s Darfur strife. But international relief workers say many of the children seemed to be Chadian and said they had parents.

One of three French journalists arrested while covering the attempted flight and now back in France, Marc Garmirian, said Monday that the Zoe’s Ark people “lied all the time to their staff.

“They had more than 100 people working for them. Never did they disclose the final goal of their operation, neither to their staff, nor the people who gave them the children, nor the children themselves.”

Garmirian, who was brought back Sunday to Europe with the other journalists and four Spanish air hostesses by Sarkozy, said “I can’t find the word to describe them.”

Breteau, he said, is a “strong-willed guy. What struck me was their state of mind, their conviction; they were sure they were doing good and had a mission to carry out.”

Breteau believed the charity’s actions were justified under part of the Geneva Convention of 1951 relating to conflict victims and threatened children, he said.

“To him, that justified everything, that justified getting them out without due administrative procedure in Chad.”

Chadian legal sources said Monday that the Belgian pilot and Spanish flight steward might soon be freed from custody.

The 75-year-old Belgian was on Monday transported to a hospital for “medical reasons”, according to one source. – AFP