Two suspects of smuggling Syrian refugees have been allowed to await the hearing of their trial at liberty. The pre-trial detention of a third suspect has also been suspended, but he will be extradited to face trial in Germany.
This was decided by the court in Zwolle on Tuesday. The prosecution thinks it can prove that main suspect Zyad D. arranged the transport from his residence in Eindhoven for over sixty refugees, from the Balkans and Hungary to the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia. But according to the prosecution, this is only the tip of the iceberg, and the police investigation would show that he smuggled hundreds of people.
D. made a confession. He himself came to the Netherlands with his family as a Syrian refugee and was granted residency status here. "I started because I wanted to help people, so they wouldn't end up in the illegal circuit." As a mitigating circumstance, D. argued that he "did not help people cross the sea in boats," but only offered transportation within Europe.
Justice is not convinced of mere benevolence because the suspects allegedly made good money from the transportation. For six hundred euros per person, cars and passenger vans drove the Syrian refugees to Western Europe, for example, from Budapest train station.
Children were allowed to join him for half money, on his lap, said D's. counselor Francoise Landerloo. He was arrested 11 months ago, even before the flow of refugees from Syria exploded last year. Several drivers were arrested in his case in Germany. D. himself did not drive migrants; he coordinated the logistics.
Intercepted telephone traffic revealed that D. was in contact with another Dutchman suspected of smuggling, born in Armenia. He will soon be handed over to justice in Germany. There he faces a sentence of four years in prison for fraud and drug trafficking.
The third suspect did not engage in human smuggling, but facilitated emigration from Syria by issuing forged visas.
For now, like D., he is being released because it is still unclear when the criminal investigation will be completed. Because information and witness hearings from Germany and Greece are pending, the prosecution believes it will take at least several more months.
In recent months, courts have been hearing more frequent cases against human traffickers. In those, according to Landerloo, similar cases imposed prison sentences of up to two years. However, the Justice Department says that defendant D. smuggled far more people than in those convicted in those trials
