China News Service, December 22 (Zhang Aolin) reported that it has been nearly 14 months since the British truck corpse case that shocked the international community.
On December 21, local time, the two suspects in the case were each convicted of 39 counts of manslaughter.
The freezer truck that changed from "hiding place" to "burial place" has become an unforgettable scar in the history of "smuggling" of Vietnamese immigrants.
Data map: The truck involved in the British truck hiding case.
[39 lives lost, 39 counts of manslaughter...
]
On October 7th, the British Central Criminal Court opened a trial on the case of concealment of trucks. Sitting in the dock were truck driver Imon Harrison and the organizer of the case, Georgi Nika.
Both of them were charged with 39 counts of manslaughter.
This is the judicial justice finally sought for the disappearance of 39 lives.
"At the time of the incident, in the dark freezer car, the temperature reached an'unbearable' 38.5 degrees Celsius. Everyone in the car was kept in it for at least 12 hours," the jurors were told on the day of the trial.
On December 21, 2020, after more than two months of trial, the court pronounced that the two were guilty of manslaughter and human trafficking!
In the UK, the crime of trafficking in persons carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, while the crime of manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
In other words, the two suspects may spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Data map: After the British truck corpse case occurred, the local police pulled up a cordon at the scene of the incident.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Shanghao
[From "hiding place" to "burial place", retrospective: What happened? 】
·On October 23, 2019, the British police found 39 bodies in a container truck in an industrial park in Essex County, southeast England. Subsequently, the Essex County Police issued a statement saying that 39 people were killed. They were all Vietnamese, and the cause of death was hypoxia and overheating in a sealed space.
Shortly after the incident, the British police arrested Robinson, the driver of the truck at the time of the incident, and several people involved. Among them, Robinson was charged with manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic in human beings, conspiracy to assist illegal immigration, and money laundering Sin etc.
· In November 2019, Robinson admitted to conspiring to assist illegal immigrants.
· On April 8, 2020, Robinson pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter in the UK Central Criminal Court.
· On May 27, 2020, the French Prosecutor’s Office stated that France and Belgium had arrested 26 suspects in connection with the case.
· On September 14, 2020, the Vietnamese court announced that four suspects were sentenced to two and a half years to seven and a half years in prison.
·On October 7, 2020, the British Central Criminal Court opened a trial in the case of concealing the body of a truck. Truck driver Imon Harrison and the organizer of the case, Georgi Nika, became the defendants.
On October 24, 2019 local time, in Essex, England, people laid flowers to mourn the dead where the truck was found.
Image source: Visual China
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New smugglers are still banned repeatedly
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Despite the previous case that shocked the international community, there are still a large number of cases of smuggling through transportation such as refrigerated trucks.
Shortly after the incident, on November 4, 2019, 41 immigrants were found in a refrigerated truck in northern Greece. At that time, most of the people were in good health and some were taken to the hospital.
On November 19, 2019, the Dutch police said that 25 stowaways were found in a refrigerated trailer container and the people on the vehicle were safe.
On July 14, 2020, the Polish State Administration of Taxation found 7 Vietnamese stowaways in a refrigerated truck during a routine inspection on the border between Poland and Germany. The youngest was only 15 years old...
Data map: In the offshore waters of Libya, a ship full of refugees is about to capsize, and the refugees on the ship jumped into the sea to escape.
In order to avoid "poverty and pain", many smugglers would rather risk their lives and go to the dream "Eldorado".
The "good" wishes of the smugglers are an opportunity for human traffickers to make a lot of money; the life and death of the smugglers is not worth mentioning to them.
When signing the condolence book on the truck hiding case, British Prime Minister Johnson wrote, “The British government condemns the ruthlessness of those responsible for this crime and is determined to do everything in its power to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
However, the issue of smuggling of immigrants involves multiple problems such as uneven development between regions and border control of various countries. It is frozen three feet and it is not a cold day. However, the right to life and death of this group should never be held in the hands of smuggling groups.