Indians detained in France allowed to resume journey

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, December 24

A flight carrying mostly Indian passengers detained for three days in France on suspicion of human trafficking has been allowed to resume its journey on Monday to Nicaragua.

After authorising the A340 aircraft, operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines, to leave, the French judges cancelled the hearings of the over 300 passengers due to irregularities in the procedure, reported BFM TV, a French TV.

Four French judges had earlier in the day begun questioning the passengers detained by the French authorities at Vatry airport, 150 km east of Paris, since Thursday over suspected “human trafficking”.

The 300 Indians detained at an airport near Paris were being questioned one by one by four French judges on Sunday. The chartered plane carrying the Indians had landed from Dubai at Vatry airport on Thursday and was detained following a tip-off that their final destination to Nicaragua was part of a human smuggling ring that was sending them illegally to the US.

The judges had the authority to extend their detention, reported the French newspaper Le Monde.

The hearings, which began at a section of the airport converted into a courtroom, would have helped the judges decide whether or not to keep the passengers in the waiting area of the airport, reported BFM TV.

“It is urgent since we cannot keep foreigners in a waiting zone for more than 96 hours. Beyond that, it is the judge of freedoms and detention who must rule on their fate,” it quoted an airport manager as stating. The 303 passengers of the chartered flight are mostly stated to be from Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Ten of the passengers have requested asylum, the paper reported.