Italy Sentences Tunisian Human Smuggler to 18 Years in Jail

27-year-old Tunisian smuggler Mohamed Alì Malek was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of more than 700 people killed as a result of a shipwreck 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) south of the Italian island of Lampedusa in April 2015 and was sentenced to 18 years in jail, according to local media.

ROME (Sputnik) – A court in the Sicilian city of Catania sentenced 27-year-old Tunisian smuggler Mohamed Alì Malek to 18 years in jail, local media reported.

Malek was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of more than 700 people killed as a result of a shipwreck 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) south of the Italian island of Lampedusa in April 2015, the Ansa news agency reported.

Judge Daniela Monaco Crea also sentenced another smuggler – 25-year-old Syrian Mahmud Bikhit – to five years in jail.

Europe is currently facing a major refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of migrants attempting to reach affluent EU member states through various routes, including via Italy, Greece, Turkey and Balkan states. Despite Brussels' attempts to limit the migration influx, many people are still trying to get into the European Union.

According to the EU border agency Frontex, about 160,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean to Italy since the beginning of 2016. Many people die because of shipwrecks en route to Europe – for example, 127 bodies were recovered in the Central Mediterranean region in October.

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