Eleven men went on trial on Wednesday over the deaths of 71 migrants found in an abandoned truck in Austria nearly two years ago, in one of the most disturbing cases marking Europe's migration crisis. The gruesome discovery of 59 men, eight women and four children crammed inside a refrigerated lorry near the Hungarian border in August 2015 sparked international revulsion.
It also prompted countries along the now-shut western Balkan migrant route to open their borders to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty, mainly in the Middle East. The trial is being held in the southern Hungarian town of Kecskemet because authorities determined that the migrants' deaths had occurred in Hungary.
Surrounded by heavily armed and masked police, the defendants -- 10 Bulgarians, one Afghan and one Lebanese national entered the courtroom packed with foreign journalists on Wednesday morning. The Afghan, identified as 30-year-old Samsoor L. and thought to the ringleader, arrived first and flashed a smile at the crowd.
While all are accused of human trafficking and torture, four including the Afghan have also been charged with homicide with particular cruelty and face life imprisonment. One suspect remains at large and will be tried in absentia, with verdicts expected by the end of the year.
The accused allegedly belonged to a gang that smuggled more than 1,200 people into western Europe at the height of the continent's migration crisis. According to prosecutors, refugees were often carried in closed, dark and airless vans unsuitable for passenger transport, in crowded, inhuman, excruciating conditions.
In the case of the 71 asylum seekers, post-mortem examinations revealed they had suffocated in horrendous conditions shortly after being picked up near the Serbian-Hungarian border. All except one have been identified. Most were repatriated to their home countries, while a dozen are buried at a Muslim cemetery in Vienna.
-AFP, Kecskemét
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