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| Chad court jails French aid staff | Chad court jails French aid staff |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A court in Chad has sentenced six French aid workers to eight years of hard 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. | 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 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. | Protesters in Chad demanded the accused aid workers face justice, amid claims they may be treated leniently because they were Europeans. |
| The French government says it will now ask the Chadian government to return the aid workers to France. | |
| The verdict was delivered on the fourth day of a trial that started on 21 December. | |
| A Chadian and a Sudanese national who were also on trial were each sentenced to four years imprisonment, the AFP news agency reports. | 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. | Two other Chadians accused in the child-trafficking case were acquitted. |
| Hunger strike | |
| The court found the French nationals guilty of the "attempted kidnap of children, breaching their civil rights". | |
| It also found the group guilty of "absconding without payment" of bills accrued in their attempt to fly the children out of eastern Chad. | |
| According to AFP, the head of Zoe's Ark, Eric Breteau, and the Sudanese national, Souleimane Ibrahim Adam, were found guilty of the further charge of using forged documents. | |
| The French nationals briefly went on hunger strike in December to protest at their treatment. | |
| Earlier this month, Chadian authorities said they had dropped the case against another 12 people initially held with the French aid workers. | |
| The 12 - including French journalists and Spanish flight crew - had already been allowed to leave Chad. | |
| The United Nations children's charity, Unicef, has described the French charity mission to fly children out of Chad as illegal under international law. | |
| French officials also described Zoe's Ark's actions as "illegal and irresponsible". | |
| The charity and its leader, Mr Breteau, say they genuinely believe they were rescuing orphans from Darfur and have blamed their local contacts for allegedly duping them. |