The Ghent Court of Appeal on Thursday sentenced a Vietnamese man – considered to be the 'Kingpin' of the human traffickers – to 10 years in prison for the deaths of 39 migrants found in the back of a refrigerated lorry in England in 2019.
During the trial, four taxi drivers who transported the migrants were also prosecuted but given lighter sentences. Four more taxi drivers and three flat owners were acquitted.
The bodies of the victims were discovered on 23 October 2019 in a refrigerated lorry in the English county of Essex. It soon became apparent that the container carrying them had left Zeebrugge for Purfleet the day before. The 39 victims, including three minors, were all from Vietnam. They died of asphyxiation and hyperthermia due to the heat and lack of oxygen in the confined space of the container.
The Belgian part of the investigation had led the police to look into two hideouts in Anderlecht from which 15 Vietnamese had been transported to Bierne, in northern France, on 22 October. They were then put in the trailer. The victims had paid more than €12,000 for the journey, which took them through Russia to Europe. They then had to pay around €12,000 again for the crossing to the UK.
Vo Van Hong was considered by the Federal Prosecutor's Office as the mastermind of the gang. He was first sentenced to 15 years in prison, which was then reduced to 10 years on appeal. "He took advantage of desperate people and wanted to make as much profit as possible. His victims provided his income and the safety of the refugees was never a priority," the court summarised in its ruling.
"The victims paid for a place on board but not for a safe arrival. For the defendant, it did not matter if people died during the journey or did not arrive at their destination. All principles of respect for human dignity were alien to him," the ruling said. Vo Van Hong was also fined €920,000.
Another defendant, sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first instance but appealed, was also given a lighter sentence of four years in prison on appeal.
Three other people were prosecuted for renting out flats to human traffickers as hideouts. These three defendants were acquitted on appeal, the court considering that there was not enough evidence to establish their guilt with certainty.
Finally, eight taxi drivers were prosecuted for transporting migrants. Four were acquitted and four others received lighter sentences than at first instance.
