By DPA
Paris : The six French aid workers sentenced to eight years of forced labour by the government of Chad will leave for France by the weekend, the Nouvel Observateur magazine said Thursday.
The workers – who belonged to the L’Arche de Zoe (Zoe’s Ark) aid organisation – were also fined around $9 million for attempting to kidnap more than 100 African children in October.
Supporters of the aid organisation have criticised the sentence as too harsh.One of the defence lawyers, Gilbert Collard, has also called the punishment a “legal scandal”.
The trial, which was over in a few days, was seen as a face-saving measure for Chad.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy had promised after the arrests to get all French detainees out of Chad, “no matter what they have done”.
The aid workers in October attempted to bring 103 African children to France to house them with foster families with the possibility of future adoption.