as a woman." - Abdourahim Said Bacar, Comoran government spokesman. Soon afterwards, the French government confirmed that Bacar had fled to Mayotte. He requested that France grant him political asylum, and the French government said that it was considering the request. The Comoran government asked France to hand him over so that it could put him on trial; it had issued an international arrest warrant for Bacar. Subsequently, the French moved Bacar to the nearby island of Réunion on the night of March 27–28, along with 23 of his supporters who accompanied him when he fled to Mayotte. It was thought that he would be charged on Réunion with weapons possession and illegal entry due to his arrival on Mayotte by speedboat. Comoran President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi said that if the French objected to extraditing Bacar to Comoros, where the death penalty is allowed, then it could send him to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for trial. Thousands of Comorans participated in a protest on March 28 to demand that Bacar be extradited; it was widely believed in the Comoros that France secretly worked to protect him. In its extradition request, the Comoran government accused Bacar of "embezzlement of public funds, homicide, rape, torture and other abuses against the people of Anjouan". The case against Bacar and his 23 supporters, based on illegal entry and weapons possession, was dismissed by a court in Saint-Denis, Réunion on March 29. However, they were ordered to be placed in administrative detention; they were kept at air base 181. An order (reconduite à la frontière) to expel Bacar and his men back to the Comoros was issued on March 28, but it was subsequently revoked. On March 31, Bacar and his men requested political asylum. Bacar's lawyers also requested a temporary residence permit for them, but this was rejected by the court in Saint-Denis. On April 1, a new order was signed for the expulsion of Bacar and his men. At a court hearing on April 2, Bacar said that he had "confidence in French justice"; his lawyers said that they would appeal the order for his expulsion. On April 2, the Assembly of the Union of the Comoros accused France of taking Bacar from Anjouan to Mayotte. Replying to this allegation, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascale Andréani said on April 3 that Bacar had managed to flee Anjouan "under unclear circumstances".