France will not extradite two French pilots to the Dominican Republic, government spokesman Stéphane Le Foll said Wednesday, referring to the pair who fled the island nation by boat to escape a conviction for alleged cocaine smuggling, reports FRANCE 24.
“France will apply the rule of law,” Le Foll told RTL radio in response to a request by the Dominican government for the men to be sent back to the Carribbean nation. “We do not extradite French citizens once they are on home soil.”
“There is an ongoing investigation given the allegations,” he added. “Justice will be done.”
Pascal Fauret, 55, and co-pilot Bruno Odos, 56, were among four Frenchmen handed 20-year terms in Santo Domingo in August following their March 2013 arrest for allegedly trying to smuggle 26 suitcases of cocaine out of the Dominican Republic
But on Tuesday they were back with their families in France after travelling by boat from the Caribbean nation to the Franco-Dutch island of Saint Martin before flying to Martinique and then on to France.
Fauret, who like Odos has protested his innocence, said at a press conference in Paris organised by their lawyers that he felt they had no choice but to leave the Dominican Republic.
"The justice system did not open an investigation, it did not listen to us and we were sentenced to 20 years in jail just because we're French and not good Christians," he said.
"I'm sorry, but my first instinct was to return to my country where I could speak before a functional justice system and try to go back to a normal life."
Their lawyer Jean Reinhart insisted the men had not "fled" the Dominican Republic.
"They are not trying to evade justice," he insisted. "The first thing they did upon their return was to write to the magistrate" in charge of their case in France.
"They are not escapees, because they were not in prison," he added, explaining that the pair were not being held in detention, though they were also not authorised to leave the Dominican Republic pending a judicial appeal.