Justice Denied In Zoe's Ark Case?

Six French aid workers sentenced to eight years' forced labor in Chad for trying to kidnap 103 children left for France on Friday, boarding a plane in handcuffs as security officers looked on.

The members of Zoe's Ark were transported to an airstrip in a prison van before taking off.

On Thursday, France asked Chad to hand over the six, who were convicted and sentenced Wednesday. Repatriation requests are allowed under a 1976 judicial accord between the two countries.

France does not have forced labor for convicts and there are hopes that if the six are returned, the French justice system will commute or reduce their sentences.

I'm not sure under what grounds the six should have their sentences reduced or commuted given that the six were involved in kidnapping more than a hundred Chadian children under false pretenses of bringing Darfurian refugees back to France to be cared for by French families. The six were involved in taking the children, using disguises and trickery to fool Chadian officials into believing that the children were from Darfur, and the trial found them guilty.

There's no reason to believe that the Chadian justice system failed in this instance, unless you think the sentences were too light.