A Libyan court has sentenced five individuals to life imprisonment, and nine others were sentenced to 15 years in prison for their involvement in an illegal immigration ring.
Another 23 individuals were sentenced to one year, for their participation in the same crime.
The gang was accused of facilitating the departure of migrants from Libya through the Mediterranean sea, resulting in the deaths of 11 individuals.
The verdict was announced in a statement issued by the Office of the Libyan Attorney General. It noted that “the Court of Appeal in Benghazi has convicted defendants for their involvement in a criminal gang that was responsible for the illegal departure of migrants from Libya via the sea, which led to the death of 11 migrants.”
The statement further explained that “the Attorney General’s Office referred the case of 38 defendants who participated in the transportation of illegal migrants on a dilapidated boat to the judiciary. The boat subsequently sank, resulting in the death of those on board.”
After an investigation into the incident, the court found 37 of the defendants guilty of involvement in the operation.
In a separate case, a court in Tripoli sentenced one defendant to life imprisonment, and two others to 20 years in prison for their involvement in a human trafficking ring.
The statement said that the defendants “detained and tortured illegal immigrants, and forced their families to pay a ransom for their release. They practiced cruel treatment against immigrant victims, and filmed them during torture in order to force their families to pay money.”
Notably, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) has detained 15 people suspected of being members of a criminal network. They are accused of transporting Syrian nationals through Libya, and other African countries into the EU.
Spanish police said on Tuesday that the group’s alleged leader, a Syrian national, was among the detainees.
According to a statement published by Europol, it coordinated the operation with law enforcement from Germany, Norway, and France.
