A vast illegal immigration network, a tragedy, and 19 defendants tried in Paris. After the tragedy of a mass truck, in which 39 migrants died in England in 2019, two prosecutors have the task of trying four of the defendants for manslaughter.
“Faced with defendants who favored profitability by endangering the victims, who only saw them as chickens to be piled up, we had very few explanations, cynicism on the part of some who came forward as a victim of this system,” prosecutor Alexis Liberge ruled in his indictment.
Migrants found dead of asphyxia and hyperthermia
On the morning of October 22, 2019, 31 men and 8 women, aged 15 to 44, all from Vietnam, got into a trailer in the north of France. The container had left the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, heading for England where the macabre discovery took place after a night of travel, on October 23, 2019, in the Grays industrial zone, east of London.
The migrants were found dead of asphyxia and hyperthermia, due to the heat and lack of oxygen in the confined space of the container. Against the four men, prosecutors requested nine to ten years of imprisonment, accompanied by fines and permanent ban from the national territory.
“They are indirectly responsible for the deaths of 39 migrants by contributing to the establishment of a transport system across the Channel that is unsuitable for the transport of people,” detailed prosecutor Sarah Kahla. “It’s money that motivates above all else, less community help,” underlined the prosecutor. The trial is scheduled to end Friday.