On December 21, a Legend Airlines flight departed from Dubai carrying 303 Indian passengers. Hours later, the flight, which was bound for the central American country of Nicaragua, landed at the Vatry airport in France, 160 km from Paris, for a technical halt. But the flight was not allowed to take off again. The French authorities had received information that the passengers had possibly been trafficked. They swung into action, converting the airport into a makeshift tribunal and calling judges and lawyers for emergency hearings. The passengers, who were possibly tired and nervous, were summoned before a judge.
“The French authorities had received a tip-off and took it very seriously. All the 303 passengers were Indian citizens and they had boarded the flight in the UAE,” said the airlines lawyer, Liliana Bakayoko. She did not explain whether the tip-off came from a third country or an agency that has friendly ties with France.
Bakayoko said the French authorities launched an…
