Paris (AFP)
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian reiterated Thursday that he would be "intractable" on the fate of French jihadists held in Kurdish camps in Syria, which France refuses to repatriate, despite complaints from families against him.
"We have to come back to the realities on this subject: there were French fighters who went to fight France by joining Daesh in Syria, they must be judged on the places where they committed their crimes." he hammered on the CNEWS chain.
"I say fighters and combatants (including the wives of jihadists, ed), who are the enemies of France because they attacked France, they killed French people in France from their bases," he said. -he adds.
A dozen families of women and children of French jihadists have lodged a complaint against the Minister of Foreign Affairs for "failure to help".
They reproach him for refusing, in a "weighed, deliberate and intentional" manner, to repatriate these women and children while they are "in a situation of danger".
Jean-Yves Le Drian recalled that 17 orphans or unaccompanied minors had been repatriated in recent months. But these repatriations can not concern parents, he said.
"We can repatriate others, orphans, unaccompanied minors, the poorest, the most troubled but on the bottom, I am intractable on one point: the combatants must be judged (..) where they have committed their crimes, "he said.
"It is very difficult (to repatriate the children, ed), I say it to the lawyers, it is necessary to negotiate each time." When we brought back the 17 people, we took some collaborators on the spot, they had badly, they even risked their lives to repatriate these children, "he also noted without further details.
The complaints were lodged in July and September in France with the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) - the only body authorized to judge acts committed by members of the government in the exercise of their functions.
"I will see if the Court of Justice of the Republic seizes me," said Jean-Yves Le Drian.
© 2019 AFP