PARIS: Two French pilots who last week fled Dominican Republic, where they were under house arrest after being sentenced in first instance to 20 years in prison for drug trafficking, were arrested today for questioning by a judge in Marseilles, his lawyer said.
Gendarmerie came early in the morning to the homes of the two pilots, Pascal and Bruno Fauret Odos, in the southeast, to be transferred to Marseille, he told the television BFMTV lawyer Eric Dupond-Moretti.
In that city, an instructor judge has opened a case against them after being arrested in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) in March 2013 as they prepared to take off in the direction of Saint-Tropez (France) in a Falcon in which the authorities Dominican found 700 kilograms of cocaine, valued at 30 million euros.
The lawyer said the judge will question them for that case and not the circumstances of his escape from Dominican Republic.
According Dupond-Moretti, both drivers will tell the judge "who are innocent" of charges of drug trafficking and that the process followed against them in Dominican Republic, after which they were sentenced to 20 years in prison, not took into account their status as commercial airline pilots, "you do not have to control the contents of baggage to carry."
The lawyer was very critical with the arrest of his clients this morning, because, he said, "had been declared available to justice."
"We said we were at their disposal, the two pilots were in their homes, enough to make a call and we would have gone to testify. It did not go through the humiliation of an arrest, even you haberles handcuffed to their families and neighborhood "said the lawyer.
In addition, Dupond-Moretti reconsidered "impossible" that his clients be extradited to Dominican Republic, as claimed by the authorities of that country.
Fauret and Odos, 55 and 56, respectively, fled the island where they were sentenced to 20 years in prison last August, along with two other French, who remain in the country.
They did not enter prison because they appealed the sentence but were under judicial control and were forbidden to leave the country.
However, with the help of a group of former military colleagues they managed to escape and head to the French island of Martinique in a sailboat, from where they traveled to Paris, where they arrived on day 24.
On the other hand, the lawyer of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, confirmed today that his client is being followed by the judge who instructs Marseille flight Dominican Republic, since in the same company traveled political three times between 2012 and 2013.
Speaking to the radio "Europe 1", the lawyer Thierry Herzog felt that Sarkozy "not being treated" like a normal citizen in this case, so he asked for explanations from the prosecution.
The coincidence that Sarkozy flew the same aircraft company was arrested in Punta Cana is given, although the former is not related to the drug trafficking case, but with an open for alleged embezzlement investigation.
The Justice Ministry said the location of the phone Sarkozy and request communication bills was ordered by the investigating judge "independently" and within a judicial investigation. EFE
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