Italian court sentences human trafficker to 20 years in prison
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A human trafficker who was involved in a shipwreck, killing 94 migrants, is fined €3 million and must pay the damages to civil plaintiffs.
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A view of part of the wreckage of a capsized boat that was washed ashore at a beach near Cutro, southern Italy, on February 27, 2023. (AP)
A people smuggler involved in a shipwreck last year that led to the death of 94 migrants has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Italian court in the southern city of Crotone.
The smuggler, Gun Ufuk, a 29-year-old Turkish national, has been found guilty of crimes including causing a shipwreck and aiding illegal immigration in which the court also ordered him to pay a €3m fine and pay damages to civil plaintiffs.
The boat in question departed from Turkey, carrying around 180 migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Syria, including many children, and went down in stormy weather off the coast of Calabria on February 26 of last year. The smuggling involved four alleged human smugglers one of whom is Ufuk, who denied being in charge of the boat. This made it the deadliest migrant shipwreck to happen so close to Italy's coastline since October 2013's boat sinking incident on the island of Lampedusa, which killed 368 people.
Bodies and debris washed up on the beaches near the area for days after last year’s shipwreck, and one suspected smuggler died, while two others are still standing trial.
Yesterday, Ufuk informed the court that he was hired to be the boat’s mechanic, claiming he was never at the helm, adding, “I had to flee Turkey for political reasons,” explaining how he had been jailed for criticizing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged after the shipwreck to put pressure on human traffickers, including handing out tougher sentences and giving preferential quotas to workers from countries who help fight smugglers. Meloni's far-right party, Brothers of Italy, won elections in 2022 on similar promises.
NGOs published a report last month showing that Italy arrested about 250 boat drivers in 2023, with the majority of pilots being Egyptians carrying migrants from Libya or Tunisia.
Meloni vowed to prevent Italy from becoming Europe's 'refugee camp'
Meloni vowed on September 20 that she would prevent her country from becoming a camp for refugees in Europe because of the large influx of refugees arriving from Africa and Asia.
"I will not let Italy become a camp for refugees in Europe. It is necessary to declare war against human traffickers," Meloni told reporters a day earlier ahead of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York.
She further acknowledged the challenging migrant situation, particularly on the island of Lampedusa, and expressed optimism that international organizations would assist in finding a solution to the crisis.
