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| Chad court jails French aid staff | Chad court jails French aid staff |
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| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |