Hungary 'death lorry' smugglers get 25 years in jail

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Europe

Four human smugglers, one Afghan and three Bulgarians, were sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday for the deaths of 71 migrants in a refrigerated lorry, found abandoned on the side of an Austrian highway at the height of Europe’s migrant crisis in August 2015, in a case that shocked the world.

The judge in the Hungarian court, Janos Jadi, said the four men – who were found guilty of homicide and people smuggling – had shown "extreme cruelty" by refusing to open the lorry’s doors despite its passengers banging on its sides and crying for help.

The prosecution, which had asked for life imprisonment, said it would appeal the sentences.

Samsoor Lahoo leaves the courtroom after hearing a guilty verdict in Kecskemet, Hungary, June 14, 2018. /VCG Photo

Alongside the four main defendants, 10 other people were sentenced on Thursday to up to 12 years in prison in connection with the lorry deaths.

Outrage

The case sparked an international outcry in 2015, as Europe faced its biggest migrant crisis since the end of World War Two, with over a million refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere streaming into the continent.

One of the favored routes was through the Balkans, Hungary and Austria, toward Germany and Scandinavia.

When Austrian police found the lorry on the side of a highway near Parndorf, southeast of Vienna, on August 27, 2015, the bodies of 71 migrants – 59 men, eight women and four children – stuffed inside the hermetically sealed vehicle, were already in an advanced state of decomposition.

Investigators said the victims, who were from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, had suffocated just hours after starting their journey in Hungary.

‘Extreme cruelty’

Judge Jadi said the ringleader of the group, Samsoor Lahoo, an Afghan national who was himself a former refugee, told his accomplices not to open the doors of the lorry.

Throughout the journey, he was in touch with the three Bulgarians – one of whom was driving the lorry, while the other two followed in separate vehicles – via telephone.

Defendants escorted by police officers arrive in court in Kecskemet, Hungary, June 21, 2017, for their trial over the deaths of 71 migrants found in an abandoned truck in Austria in 2015. /VCG Photo

The four men have maintained they did not know the lorry’s passengers were in distress.

Evidence presented in the court in the Hungarian town of Kecskemet however showed the defendants willfully ignored cries for help as the temperature inside the lorry rose and air ran out.

"The four main accused knew that inaction on their part could lead to the deaths of the victims," Judge Jadi said.

"None of the accused did anything, they stayed passive," he said. "This shows extreme cruelty."

‘Let them die’

Police intercepts of phone calls by Lahoo showed he was well aware of the migrants’ ordeal in the back of the refrigerated lorry.

"Let them die instead. That's an order," he allegedly said. "If they die… let him dump them in a forest in Germany."

Lahoo described his comments in court as “thoughtless remarks” and insisted he "had not wanted anyone's death."

Migrants and refugees wait to board a bus after crossing the Slovenian-Austrian border in Spielfeld, Austria, October 22, 2015. /VCG Photo

But Prosecutor Gabor Schmidt argued Lahoo had demonstrated "endless greed" and "frightening indifference" to the migrants.

"The ruling does not sufficiently reflect the seriousness of the crime," he added.

The defendants’ lawyers have said they will also appeal the homicide charges and seek lighter sentences for people smuggling.

1,500 euros per head

The verdicts came after a year-long trial. The case was initially tried in Austria but later moved to Kecskemet, where the lorry was hired, after it emerged the migrants had died on Hungarian soil.

The men were accused of setting up a human trafficking group that smuggled over 1,200 people from Hungary to Austria starting in February 2015.

Migrants were charged up to 1,500 euros (1,734 US dollars) per head for the journey and were often transported in similar conditions to those who died.

(With input from wires)

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