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Indians held in France over trafficking could leave Monday

A plane bound for Nicaragua has been grounded in Paris since Thursday after an anonymous tip-off that it was potentially carrying victims of human trafficking.

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

Indians held in France over trafficking could leave Monday. Most of the roughly 300 Indians travelling on a plane detained near Paris over suspicions of human trafficking will be free to resume their trip Monday, French judicial sources said Sunday.

The Nicaragua-bound Airbus A340 and its 303 Indian passengers have been held at Vatry airport, 150 kilometres (95 miles) east of Paris, since arriving Thursday from Dubai for refuelling after an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying potential victims of human trafficking.

Four French judges began questioning the passengers Sunday to verify the “conditions and purposes” of their travel, and have two days to complete speaking to the passengers.

The judges have the authority to extend the detention, but Paris prosecutors told AFP they expect the plane and its passengers to be cleared for departure late Monday morning “at the latest,” without naming a destination.

The passengers of the flight operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines are holed up in the airport. They include 11 unaccompanied minors, according to Paris prosecutors.

Two passengers have been detained since Friday “to verify” whether their role “may have been different than the others in this transport, and under what conditions and with what objectives.”

Ten of the passengers have requested asylum, a source close to the case said.

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

Individual beds, as well as toilets and showers, have been installed, the local prefecture said.

The Indian embassy in Paris Saturday posted on X that “embassy consular staff” are on site to working with French authorities “for the welfare” of detained passengers for an “early resolution of the situation.”

The 30 crew members were not detained. Some handled the Dubai-Vatry leg and others were to take over for the flight to Managua. According to Flightradar24, Legend Airlines has just four planes.

A source close to the inquiry told AFP that some of the Indian passengers were likely workers in the United Arab Emirates who may be traveling to Nicaragua as a jumping off spot for the United States or Canada.

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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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