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French Zoe’s Ark charity workers released from prison

Tuesday, 01 April 2008

French Zoe’s Ark charity workers released from prison

The six French charity workers from Zoe’s Ark, who had been convicted of kidnapping 103 children in Chad have been pardoned and released from prison in France.

The six people had been given eight years of hard labour in Chad, but they were transferred back to France to serve their sentences, however, on Monday, Chad's President Idriss Deby pardoned them all.

The charity workers had originally claimed they were taking orphans from Darfur but it turned out that the majority of the children were from Chad and all had parents or guardians.

Two of the Zoe’s Ark aid workers could still be facing criminal charges in France, however, and disappointed foster families have taken legal action against the charity.

The government of Chad is understood to have said it expects the children's families to receive compensation to be paid either by the charity workers or France.

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