A day after French authorities grounded a plane with 300 Indians onboard in a suspected case of “human trafficking,” the lawyer from Romania-based Legend Airlines clarified that the company has done nothing wrong and committed no offense. The Airbus A340, which took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday and landed at Vatry airport in eastern France for a technical stopover was grounded after France received a tip-off around “human trafficking.”
Legend Airlines did not officially respond to the allegations and Liliana Bakayoko, claiming to be the lawyer of the company asserted that the airline has not done anything wrong and “is at the disposal of the French authorities,” a report by news agency AFP said.
The lawyer added that a customer arranged for the charter of the plane and assumed the responsibility of authenticating the identity documents of every passenger. She noted that this customer shared the passenger details to the airline 48 hours before the scheduled flight.
The French authorities have maintained that the decision to ground the flight was taken as they received a tip-off that the flight was carrying people “likely to be victims of human trafficking”. “Identity checks are being carried on the 303 passengers and the cabin crew,” said the prosecutor’s office.
The authorities in France were conducting a full background check on the passengers of the plane and the conditions in which they were transported. The French authorities shared the details of the case with the Indian Embassy, which took note of the incident and said that they are investigating the situation. “The embassy team has reached & obtained consular access. We are investigating the situation, also ensuring the well-being of passengers,” the Indian embassy in France said in a statement on X.
The people with knowledge of the situation have claimed that the Indian passengers may have planned to travel to Central America to make unauthorized attempts to enter either the United States or Canada.
