Chad judicial council OKs pardon for ‘Darfur orphan’ airlift workers News
Chad judicial council OKs pardon for ‘Darfur orphan’ airlift workers

[JURIST] Chad's Higher Judicial Council on Friday recommended that Chadian President Idriss Deby [official website, in French; BBC profile] pardon six French aid workers convicted in Chad in December of attempting to kidnap [JURIST reports] 103 African children. Deby said earlier this month that he may pardon the aid workers within weeks [JURIST report], but that he was waiting for an official request from France. Reuters has more.

The aid workers, affiliated with charity Zoe's Ark [advocacy website, in French], said they were attempting to airlift orphaned children from the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur [JURIST news archives], but investigations revealed that most of the children were not Sudanese or orphans. In January, another aid worker was charged in French court [JURIST report] with conspiring to allow illegal residents into the country in connection with the foiled airlift.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.