A flight to Nicaragua with 303 people on board will be allowed to depart on Monday, three days after the passengers, mostly Indians, were detained by French authorities at an airport near Paris on suspicion of “human trafficking.”
According to local media, after the Romanian Legend Airlines A340 aircraft took off, French judges decided to cancel hearings for more than 300 passengers due to irregularities in procedure. Earlier in the day, four judges began interrogating passengers detained by French authorities at Vatry airport on suspicion of “human trafficking.”
The plane was expected to depart again on Monday morning. It could go to India, where the passengers came from, Nicaragua, or Dubai, where it departed from.
According to the French prosecutor’s office, the plane was carrying 11 unaccompanied minors and two passengers who had been in detention since Friday. On Saturday evening, their detention was extended to 48 hours.
The partner company that chartered the plane was responsible for checking each passenger’s identity documents. It handed over the passport details of the passengers to the airline 48 hours ahead of the flight, the firm’s lawyer Liliana Bakayoko informed.
India’s embassy in France claimed on Saturday that its staff had been stationed at the airport near Paris. The announcement came after the passengers were detained by French authorities on suspicion of “human trafficking.”
According to reports, the trip may have been plotted by the Indian passengers to reach Central America, from where they may attempt to enter the United States or Canada illegally. However, authorities, relying on an anonymous source, warned that the passengers were probably victims of human trafficking in an organised gang.
Human trafficking in France is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
