NADOR, Morocco — A
Moroccan court
Tuesday sentenced 33 migrants to 11 months in jail for “illegal entry”, their
lawyer said, after a deadly mass border-crossing attempt into the Spanish
enclave of Melilla last month.
اضافة اعلان
The court in Nador, near
the
North African kingdom’s border with Melilla, sentenced “all the (33)
migrants to 11 months behind bars each”, Khalid Ameza told AFP, describing the
ruling as “a very heavy sentence”.
At least 23 migrants died
after around 2,000 people, many from Sudan, stormed the frontier on June 24 —
the worst death toll in years of attempted migrant crossings into Spain’s Ceuta
and Melilla enclaves, which represent the EU’s only land borders with Africa.
The 33 irregular migrants
were prosecuted for “illegal entry onto Moroccan soil”, “violence against law
enforcement officers”, participating in an “armed gathering” and “refusing to
obey orders”, according to a court statement.
“We hope that the appeals
court will rectify this severe sentence,” the AMDH human rights group’s Nador
office said.
A separate trial, also in
Nador, of a group of 29 irregular migrants including a minor opened last week
but has been adjourned to July 27, the court said.
That group is accused of
“participating in a criminal gang with a view to organizing and facilitating”
irregular migration, among other charges.
Spanish rights group
Caminando Fronteras says as many as 37 people lost their lives in the June 24
incident.
The United Nations, the
African Union and independent rights groups have condemned the use of excessive
force by Moroccan and Spanish security personnel.
Morocco’s state-backed
CNDH rights group said last week that those who died likely “suffocated”.
The CNDH defended Moroccan forces’
actions, saying cases of violence were “isolated” and citing the danger posed
by “the large number of migrants” carrying sticks and stones.
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