Prosecutors in France are seeking a 10-year jail term for four men accused in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants, who suffocated to death in a lorry container in 2019. The Paris court described a vast network of irregular immigration and also wants to permanently ban the four Vietnamese men from France.
French prosecutors on Tuesday (November 7) called for a 10 year imprisonment for four men accused of manslaughter over the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants discovered in a truck in England in October 2019.
The victims, nine of whom were teenagers and two aged just 15, were loaded into a container on the back of a truck in northern France and found dead the next day on an industrial estate in Grays, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of London.
A trial opened in Paris on October 17 this year – 19 people are suspected of playing critical roles in the human smuggling operation. The truck had passed through France to reach Belgium, where it then boarded an English Channel ferry.
Most of those facing trial in Paris are suspected of being helpers on the French side of the operation in the highly structured network. They face charges including aiding the illegal entry into France of the migrants and criminal association.
Who are the defendants?
The 19 defendants in the French trial include people of Vietnamese, French, Chinese, Algerian and Moroccan nationality, French news agency AFP reported.
Four of the 19, known as "Tony," "Hoang," "Long" and "Thang" – all Vietnamese – are also charged with manslaughter and may face up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors are also seeking fines and permanent bans from France for the four men.
French prosecutors said the four defendants "chose to exploit the economic vulnerability of their Vietnamese compatriots" by "ignoring nothing of the dangers" to which they exposed them.
"The defendants prioritized profit, endangering the victims who saw them (the migrants) only as 'chickens' to be stacked. Some of the defendants cynically portray themselves as victims of the system," said prosecutor Alexis Liberge in his closing speech.
Two defendants on the run
The four other Vietnamese defendants will be sentenced to between nine and ten years of imprisonment. Two of the defendants, however, were not present at the trial and are considered to be fugitives.
For the other defendants, the prosecutor sought acquittals on charges of criminal conspiracy, but convictions on the charges of aiding and abetting illegal entry, and movement and residence of foreigners in France as part of an organized gang.
British and Belgium prosecutors have already tried and convicted 23 people involved in the smuggling.
The Paris trial is scheduled to end on Friday.
With AFP, Reuters and AP