CHAD: The son of a 74 year old Belgian pilot arrested over the abduction of more than 100 African children voices concerns for his father's health

The son of the 74 year old Belgian pilot held in a prison in N'Djamena said he thinks his father has suffered from dehydration, after visiting him in Chad's capital courtroom with a Belgian lawyer on Tuesday (November 6). Ten Europeans still remain in custody in Chad, including six members of French humanitarian activist group Zoe's Ark who are charged with abduction and fraud for trying to fly the children out of Chad without proper authorisation. Three Spanish aircrew and the Belgian pilot are charged as accomplices. Jaques Willemart, the pilot who helped transport the children to Chad's eastern town of Abeche was arrested after he called the Chadian police to offer testimony regarding the situation. He has been held on charges of aiding the attempt to fly the children out of the country. "He obviously suffered from dehydration, which weakened him, his blood pressure was very low for a few days, that's why his lawyer was so worried and alerted us to the situation. It's true that now that we are here we understand things better than when we were thousands of kilometers away in Brussels," his son Patrick told reporters outside the court. Jacques Willemart came outside the courtroom supported by a military escort who was holding his hand. Willemart told reporters he's always been confident the situation will change. "My health is fine," he added. As Willemart co-operated with the Chadian authorities at the beginning of the proceedings, his Belgian lawyer hopes this will weigh in his favour with the judge. "We think that Willemart's case is different to the case of the others, we are pleading good faith, and we are going to wait and see what happens," Jean Scalais, the Belgian lawyer who arrived to N'Djamena with Willemart's son, told reporters gathered at court. French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised on Tuesday (November 6) to return to Chad to bring home the Europeans accused of abducting the African children. But Chad's Interior Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir said the Europeans should be tried and punished on Chadian soil. Sarkozy flew on Sunday (November 4) to the former French colony in a high-profile mission that obtained the release of three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants, part of the group of 17 Europeans. France and Chad have a judicial cooperation agreement that could make it possible for the French to be tried in France. But Bachir said this would be an "insult" to the Chadian people. The leaders of Zoe's Ark say they were rescuing the African children from the risk of death and suffering. Aid agencies in eastern Chad fear the case may tarnish their image and hamper their efforts to help around 400,000 Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadians who have fled violence. Both Sarkozy and Chadian President Idriss Deby say the affair will not affect the planned deployment this month in east Chad of a European Union peacekeeping force to protect refugees, civilians and aid workers.

ITN Source | November 7, 2007

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