Chad court jails French aid staff for attempting to abduct

[notoriouS-K-M]

A court in Chad has sentenced six French aid workers to eight years' forced labour for trying to take more than 100 children out of the country.
The six employees of French charity Zoe's Ark were arrested in October.

The charity said at the time it was evacuating refugee children orphaned by the conflict in Darfur so they could be cared for by families in Europe.

Most of the children were however found to be from Chad, which borders Darfur, and with parents who were still alive.

The case sparked outrage and protests in the oil-producing former French colony.

Protesters in Chad demanded the accused aid workers face justice, amid claims they may be treated leniently because they were Europeans.

The verdict was delivered on the fourth day of the trial.

A Chadian and a Sudanese national who were also on trial were each sentenced to four years imprisonment, the AFP news agency reports.

Two other Chadians accused in the child-trafficking case were acquitted.

SOURCE

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7160790.stm