http://www.trust.org/item/20150701214959-moyoa/?source=fiOtherNews2
Migrant trafficker jailed for 18 years for 2013 shipwreck off Italy
Source: Reuters - Wed, 1 Jul 2015 21:49 GMT
Author: Reuters
PALERMO, Italy, July 1 (Reuters) - An Italian court on Wednesday found
a Tunisian man guilty of trafficking migrants and sentenced him to 18
years in jail for contributing to a 2013 shipwreck that killed 366
people, a judicial source said.
A court in Agrigento, Sicily, convicted 36 year-old Khaled Bensalem of
causing the 2013 shipwreck and the deaths of the mainly Eritrean
passengers, and aiding illegal immigration, the source at the
Agrigento prosecutor's office said.
The disaster near the southern Italian island of Lampedusa was one of
the worst recorded in the decades-long history of people fleeing war
and poverty in Africa on rickety boats bound for Europe.
Since the 2013 shipwreck, which prompted Italy to start its
now-defunct search and rescue mission Mare Nostrum, a bigger disaster
in April killed up to 800 migrants and stunned the European Union into
expanding joint rescue operations.
Bensalem's sentence was reduced by a third from the possible maximum
penalty because he was given a fast-track trial which cuts eventual
jail time for a defendant who admits guilt.
Migrant traffickers have exploited lawlessness in Libya to cram people
onto unseaworthy boats, charging thousands of dollars for the perilous
passage across the Mediterranean.
More than 135,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe by sea
so far this year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
said earlier on Wednesday . (Reporting by Wladimiro Pantaleone,
writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Andrew Hay)
Received on Thu Jul 02 2015 - 17:12:23 EDT