Five years' jail for Eritrean human smuggler who was initially acquitted
An Eritrean man who was part of a criminal organisation that smuggled transmigrants to the United Kingdom has received five years' imprisonment on appeal and a fine of €240,000.
Five years' jail for Eritrean human smuggler who was initially acquitted
Thirteen Eritreans who were found in a refrigerated lorry in the English city of Ipswich in May 2023 marked the beginning of an investigation that eventually led to Sileshu T. Police traced him through mobile phones found with the migrants. The suspect was alleged to have had ties to a network that illegally transported people to the United Kingdom, often via freight transport from West Flemish port cities.
Officers arrested the man on 18 June 2024 in Waremme. On his phone they found evidence of human smuggling activities and connections with other figures in this criminal milieu.
However, an initial trial in Bruges came to nothing. On 21 November last year, the judges declared the case inadmissible because the defendant repeatedly could not be brought from prison to hearings. The public prosecutor appealed against this. This time the man appeared in person before the court, accompanied by his lawyer.
The appellate judges discovered that the suspect had been previously convicted. A Brussels court had already imposed three years on him on 23 May 2025 for similar offences. The court now added an additional sentence of five years to that, plus a fine of €240,000.
Source: Het Nieuwsblad
Source: Nieuwsblad