Charity group chief denies Chadian kidnapping charges

THE head of a French charity on trial with five colleagues in Chad yesterday denied kidnapping 103 children, saying he believed in good faith they were saving orphans from Darfur.

“I refute the charges I am accused of. I intend to respond point by point,” Eric Breteau, head of Arche de Zoe (Zoe’s Ark), told a courtroom on the first day of the trial.

The six French workers could face 20-year hard labour terms in a case that has raised questions about the integrity of non-governmental aid organisations and strained ties between Chad and its former colonial power.