A boat of migrants in the English Channel. (drawing) – SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP
Six people were indicted, including two imprisoned, after the capsizing and the rescue at the end of December, in the Channel, of a migrant boat with 12 Iraqis on board, including an infant, announced the Caen prosecutor’s office on Friday. . After this accident at
Port-en-Bessin (Calvados) on the night of December 29 to 30, 2020, the passengers of the boat were rescued and brought back to land unharmed, only the two-month-old infant being transported to the hospital with mild hypothermia.
The investigations, carried out under the aegis of an investigating judge, led to the arrest of eight people on the morning of June 1, in Lorient, Lanester (Morbihan) and Lille, according to the prosecution. Six were indicted for aiding illegal entry and stay in an organized group, endangering others and using false administrative documents. Two suspects were remanded in custody.
“The investigations, initiated on the basis of scientific and technical police information gathered in Port-en-Bessin have been actively pursued since then, requiring a significant investment of the special team set up for this file, with a particularly satisfactory result”, said the prosecutor of Caen Amélie Cladière. “The investigation is continuing,” she added. The investigation is entrusted to the border police and to the gendarmes of the research section of Caen, the research brigade of Bayeux and the proximity brigade of Creuilly (Calvados).