ACCUSED IN CHAD 'BLINDED BY ZEAL'!
Idealistic zeal clouded the judgement of charity workers at the centre of a scandal over the alleged kidnap of 103 children in Chad, a journalist says.
Marc Garmirian was accompanying the Zoe's Ark charity in Chad when the group was arrested 11 days ago. He is among seven Europeans now back at home after being freed on Sunday.
"What struck me was their state of mind, their conviction; they were sure they were doing good and had a mission to carry out," he reportedly said.
Ten Europeans - six members of Zoe's Ark, three members of the Spanish flight crew, and a Belgian pilot - remain in detention in Chad's capital N'Djamena - where some were questioned by a prosecutor on Monday.
They face charges from kidnapping to being an accessory, over the discovery of 103 children in a plane on the tarmac in the eastern town of Abeche on 25 October.
The children were due to be adopted in France.
Speaking about the charity head, Eric Breteau, and fellow charity worker Emilie Lelouche, Mr Garmirian told interviewers: "You could say that they are lunatics, fanatics."
But Mr Garmirian said that while the charity workers had displayed a "tragic amateurishness" in their actions, he did not believe them to be child traffickers. He said he had never believed the children to be in danger.
The charity workers - in court on Monday - deny acting illegally.
In another interview, Mr Garmirian said Mr Breteau had identified articles of the Geneva Convention of 1951 on conflict victims "that justify the rescue of threatened children".
"To him, that justified everything, that justified getting them out without due administrative procedure in Chad," he said.
Mr Garmirian accused the charity workers of lying about the final goal of their operation to those they encountered in making preparations for the airlift.
The charity workers have denied their actions were illegal.
They insist their intentions were humanitarian and that they conducted investigations that established that the children were orphans from the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, which borders Chad.
But aid workers caring for the children say they seem to be Chadian and said they had parents.
Seven Europeans - four Spanish flight attendants, Mr Garmirian and another French journalist, Marie-Agnes Perleran - flew home on Sunday, accompanied by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Marc Garmirian was accompanying the Zoe's Ark charity in Chad when the group was arrested 11 days ago. He is among seven Europeans now back at home after being freed on Sunday.
"What struck me was their state of mind, their conviction; they were sure they were doing good and had a mission to carry out," he reportedly said.
Ten Europeans - six members of Zoe's Ark, three members of the Spanish flight crew, and a Belgian pilot - remain in detention in Chad's capital N'Djamena - where some were questioned by a prosecutor on Monday.
They face charges from kidnapping to being an accessory, over the discovery of 103 children in a plane on the tarmac in the eastern town of Abeche on 25 October.
The children were due to be adopted in France.
Speaking about the charity head, Eric Breteau, and fellow charity worker Emilie Lelouche, Mr Garmirian told interviewers: "You could say that they are lunatics, fanatics."
But Mr Garmirian said that while the charity workers had displayed a "tragic amateurishness" in their actions, he did not believe them to be child traffickers. He said he had never believed the children to be in danger.
The charity workers - in court on Monday - deny acting illegally.
In another interview, Mr Garmirian said Mr Breteau had identified articles of the Geneva Convention of 1951 on conflict victims "that justify the rescue of threatened children".
"To him, that justified everything, that justified getting them out without due administrative procedure in Chad," he said.
Mr Garmirian accused the charity workers of lying about the final goal of their operation to those they encountered in making preparations for the airlift.
The charity workers have denied their actions were illegal.
They insist their intentions were humanitarian and that they conducted investigations that established that the children were orphans from the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, which borders Chad.
But aid workers caring for the children say they seem to be Chadian and said they had parents.
Seven Europeans - four Spanish flight attendants, Mr Garmirian and another French journalist, Marie-Agnes Perleran - flew home on Sunday, accompanied by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
In N'Djamena, several of those still detained were taken to the main court for questioning by a prosecutor and to appear before a judge. They face hard labour prison terms if convicted.
A BBC correspondent in N'Djamena says there is a strong public mood that the charity workers still in detention should face trial in Chad and not be allowed to leave the country.
Several local officials from eastern Chad have also been detained for questioning.
posted by jackaranda at 10:50 pm
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