PARIS, (Reuters) – A French pilot who fled the Dominican Republic in what appeared to be a well-planned escape by speedboat after being convicted of drug trafficking said yesterday that he did so to get his story heard.
Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos were sentenced to 20 years in prison for bringing drugs into the country by private plane.
They deny the charges and had been free to move around under judicial supervision while awaiting an appeal in what has been dubbed the “Air Cocaine” case by French media.
BFM TV carried photos of the two men in a speedboat and said they went from that boat to a larger vessel, which sailed to the nearby French-governed part of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, about 730 km (450 miles) from Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic.
They arrived back in France on Saturday. Le Figaro newspaper said were “extracted” from the country by a team of people.
The Foreign Ministry to issue a statement saying it was not involved in helping the men flee.
Fauret and his lawyers would not be drawn on the nature of the escape, but the pilot told reporters he was in no way a fugitive from justice.
“From the moment when justice does not conduct an inquiry, does not listen to us … I am sorry but my instinct is to return to my country where I can tell my story to the courts,” he said.
