Six French aid workers were sentenced Wednesday by a Chadian court to eight years of hard labour for trying to abduct more than 100 children.

The employees of a French charity organization, Zoe's Ark, were arrested in late October. At the time, they said the103 orphans come from Darfur and were being evacuated to Europe.

But further investigations revealed that the children were actually from Chad and weren't orphans, living with at least one parent. Investigators said French and Belgian families paid large sums to adopt the children.

Also, the four men and two women have to pay more than 6 million euros in damages for the trauma caused to the children and their families.

When the trial began on December 21, the aid workers told the court that they had been misdirect by Chadian citizens who were also involved in the affair.

Nevertheless, the Chadian chief prosecutor asked the court to sentence the six French nationals to between seven and 11 years in prison.

“I don't have a single doubt that the accused are guilty,” Beassoum Ben Ngassoro said in court.

In the same trial, one Chadian and a Sudanese citizen were sentenced to four years in jail for complicity, while two other Sudanese were acquitted.

After the sentence was passed down, the French Foreign Ministry said the Paris government will seek the aid workers’ repatriation.

The prisoners could be transferred to France to serve their sentences under a convention agreed between France and Chad, its former colony, in 1976.