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CRIME

Unaccompanied minors on plane held in France over suspected trafficking

A murky case of suspected human trafficking has left French authorities puzzled.

French gendarmes patrol around a terminal at Vatry airport, north-eastern France.
French gendarmes patrol around a terminal at Vatry airport, north-eastern France. (Photo by FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI / AFP)

Ten Indian passengers among more than 300 on a Nicaragua-bound plane held in France over suspected human trafficking, have applied for asylum, a source close to the case told AFP Saturday.

The plane has been held at Vatry airport, 150 kilometres (95 miles) east of Paris, since arriving from Dubai on Thursday following an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying potential victims of human trafficking.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said there was 11 unaccompanied minors on board the Airbus jet, although regional authorities earlier pinned the number at 13.

Six of the minors also expressed an interest in applying for asylum, Aurore Opyrchal, a lawyer appointed by the region to represent some of the passengers, told AFP.

French authorities have not yet confirmed the passenger details.

The 303 passengers of the flight operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines were still in the airport’s entrance hall on Saturday morning, an AFP reporter saw.

Hearings are due to be held Sunday before a judge who has the authority to extend the detention order being use by border police by another eight days.

Tarpaulin covered the entrance hall’s glass exterior and nearby administrative buildings, while police and gendarmes prevented access.

Detention for two extended

Two passengers in custody since Friday had their detention extended Saturday evening for up to 48 hours, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

They were being held “in order to verify” whether their role “may have been different than the others in this transport, and under what conditions and with what objectives”, they said.

Investigators have checked the identity of passengers and flight crew, and are verifying the “conditions and purposes” of their travel, the prosecutor added.

The Indian Embassy in Paris said Saturday that it was working for “a rapid resolution of the situation”, posting on X that “consular officials are on site”.

Liliana Bakayoko, a lawyer for the airline, said all crew members had been questioned and allowed to leave.

A source close to the inquiry told AFP that some of the Indian passengers were likely workers in the United Arab Emirates who may have sought to go to Nicaragua on their way to the United States or Canada.

Authorities said they have installed camp beds and portable toilets at the airport and are providing meals for the passengers as the inquiry continues.

According to the Flightradar tracking site, Legend Airlines has a fleet of just four aircraft, and its unmarked Airbus jet remained immobilised on the Vatry tarmac on Saturday.

Legend “has operated only a few flights on this route, always for the same client” that is not based in Europe, the airline said in a statement.

It added that it would join any suit as a plaintiff if prosecutors open a case on trafficking charges.

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CRIME

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The head of France's top cinema institution Dominique Boutonnat denied sexually assaulting his godson as he went on trial Friday in a case that has led to calls for him to step down.

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The trial comes as French cinema reels from a renewed #MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gerard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

READ ALSO: French actor Gérard Depardieu to be tried for sexual assault in October

Activists have denounced Boutonnat’s continued leadership of the National Centre of Cinema (CNC), whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

His godson accuses him of trying to masturbate him during a holiday in Greece in 2020 when he was 19.

“I looked at him to find my godfather and that’s when I saw someone completely different… It was someone using me to masturbate,” the godson, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.

Boutonnat responded in court that it was his godson who had initiated the situation and kissed him.

“I feel bad about leaving an ambiguous situation, but to say there was a sexual assault is false,” he told the court.

He was placed under investigation in February 2021 but still reappointed by the government as head of the CNC in July 2022.

Training to prevent abuse has in recent months become obligatory for films seeking public funding via the CNC.

The CNC told AFP that the case against Boutonnat came from “the private sphere” and had no relation to its activities.

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