Four Iranians sentenced for a deadly shipwreck in the English Channel
Prison sentences were handed down Friday against four Iranians tried for their role in a shipwreck in the English Channel, where seven migrants had perished in October 2020.
Migratory crossings on small boats have multiplied since 2018 and the locking of the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel. (Illustrative photo)
AFP
The trial was held in the absence of one of the defendants, pilot of the boat, the only one to have been left free under judicial control. Sentenced to two years in prison, he had told investigators that he had paid 2,500 euros (2,500 francs) for his passage, but was suspected of having negotiated a free or reduced price passage.
The defendants appeared for manslaughter, endangering the lives of others and aiding illegal stay in an organized gang. The prosecutor, Amélie Le Sant, pointed to the “total absence of humanity in this network”, which placed the lives of migrants in the hands of an inexperienced pilot, in heavy weather, threatened them to climb on board, then continued to organize crossings after the tragedy.
Rauf R., accused in particular of having escorted the boat to the coast, and designated by survivors as the leader on the day of the tragedy, received the heaviest sentence, nine years. Before the court he denied any involvement, ensuring that he had never come to France.
Mostafa K., sentenced to seven years, admitted having participated in the organization of illegal crossings, claiming to have acted in exchange for a promise from smugglers to take him across for free. “You have to ask their smuggler, it’s not me,” he replied to the president who questioned him in particular about the absence of life jackets on board the wrecked boat.
Heavy fines
Designed for four or five passengers, the small fishing boat had capsized, off Gravelines on the northern coast of France, with 22 people on board. An Iranian Kurdish family had found themselves trapped in the cabin. The parents and their three children, an eight-year-old girl, a six-year-old boy and an 18-month-old baby had drowned. The youngest’s body was found weeks later on the Norwegian coast. Two other men had also disappeared at sea.
Hoshiar K., sentenced to five years, also denied any involvement, despite the proven presence of his car and his phone on the beach of the drama.
A permanent ban from French territory, required by the prosecutor, was also imposed on the four defendants, also sentenced to fines of 20,000 to 70,000 euros. The prosecutor had requested sentences of two to ten years’ imprisonment and fines of up to 100,000 euros.
Migratory crossings on small boats have multiplied since 2018 and the locking of the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel. In 2022, more than 45,000 people have thus reached the English shores. The human toll is heavy: on the night of November 23 to 24, 2021, at least 27 migrants perished. On December 14, 2022, four others drowned.
AFP
You found an error?Please let us know.