"I don't think they are repentant, in my opinion I sincerely believe they are a kind of idealists for whom the end justifies whatever means," pilot Augustin Rey told a news conference.

Chad freed him on Friday after holding him for 16 days.

"If you ask me, I would even say that they would almost prefer to be in Chad than go to France," said Rey who works for Catalan air charter company Girjet.

Rey and two other members of the Spanish aircrew left behind six French members of the activist group Zoe's Ark, who Chad has charged with fraud and abduction for trying to fly 103 children they said were Darfur orphans to families in Europe.

Rey told reporters in Madrid he and the rest of the Spanish crew, four of whom were flown home by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on November 4, were innocent and were as unaware of any plan as the Chadian authorities.

"We simply made a flight for which we had all the legal documentation with all the possible guarantees, and if the Chadian government were deceived, we were also deceived and everybody else was deceived," Rey said.

"Obviously, it is an abominable crime to steal children."

Andoni Nieto, head of the Spanish pilots union SEPLA, told journalists the European Union should do more to protect pilots flying to countries like Chad.

"It would be very simple for the European Union to provide special conditions when flying to those countries, so that we are prosecuted in our country of origin if we get involved in this type of situation," Nieto said.