Amsterdam, Jan 28, (dpa/GNA) – A Dutch court on Tuesday sentenced an Eritrean man to 20 years in prison for human trafficking, extortion and membership of a criminal organization.
The court sitting in Zwolle, found that the 42-year-old man had been the head of an organization that brought many Eritreans to Europe, who had previously suffered severe abuse in Libyan camps.
The court heard evidence of his brutality from victims. It found the crimes to be “especially cruel, violent and inhumane” and that the man had been unscrupulous in extorting money from his helpless victims.
It said hundreds of refugees had been incarcerated in Libyan camps on the promise of being brought to Europe, where they were abused, tortured and raped. Pressure was then applied to families in the Netherlands by means of images of the abuse, who had to pay large sums for their relatives to be released.
The prison term is the highest the court can impose for this crime, and was in line with that called for by the prosecution, which described the man as “one of the largest human traffickers on the central Mediterranean route.”
The man’s lawyer said he would appeal, according to the Dutch public broadcaster.
The trial was one of the largest of its kind in the Netherlands. It was held in the Netherlands, as some of the victims and their relatives have applied for asylum in the country.
Another suspected leader of the organization, was deported to the Netherlands by the United Arab Emirates in December.
GNA