14 June 2018•Update: 15 June 2018
By Mehmet Yilmaz
BUDAPEST, Hungary
A Hungarian court sentenced four human smugglers to 25 years in jail on Thursday over the death of 71 migrants in the back of a container truck.
The four men are charged with “aggravated murder with particular cruelty”.
Fourteen people, including nationals of Bulgaria, Afghanistan and Lebanon, are on trial over the 2015 incident which shook Europe.
Prison sentences from three to 12 years were handed down to 10 others who were standing trial.
In August 2015, the bodies of up to 71 people were found in the back of a container truck on an Austrian highway close to the Hungarian border.
During 2015, thousands of migrants crossed from Turkey every month to travel up the Balkans, passing through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, and Hungary.
Many cross from Hungary to Austria, where they apply for asylum or continue their journey to Germany, France or other western EU states.
