[1] On 30 October 2007, six members of the charity organization Zoé's Ark were formally charged by the government of Chad for child abduction.
The incident strained Franco-Chadian relations, ahead of a planned deployment of French peacekeeping troops into the country.
[6] French president Nicolas Sarkozy successfully negotiated the dropping of charges and release of the journalists and flight crew members prior to trial.
The six were released in March 2008 but were ordered to pay each of the 103 victims restitution equal to approximately $87,000, which amounts to $8.9M per defendant.
[2] In March 2008 the president of Chad pardoned the convicted aid-workers, and they were released from the prisons in France.