An Italian court on Wednesday sentenced a Turkish smuggler involved in a shipwreck that caused the deaths of at least 94 migrants to 20 years in prison, media reported.
Gun Ufuk, a 29-year-old Turkish national, was one of four suspected human traffickers on board this migrant ship which sank during a storm off the coast of Calabria on February 26, 2023.
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The boat, which was carrying around 180 migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Syria, including many children, left Turkish shores but sank shortly after.
A suspected smuggler died in the sinking, while two others appeared in court.
Guilty of causing the shipwreck
The court in Crotone (south) found Gun Ufuk guilty of causing the ship to sink and of participating in an illegal immigration network.
He defended himself, telling the court that he was only hired to be the engineer on board, not the pilot.
“I had to flee Turkey for political reasons,” he said, saying he was imprisoned for criticizing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After this shipwreck, the Italian Prime Minister, far-right Giorgia Meloni, promised to be more severe towards smugglers.
His party won the 2022 elections by pledging in particular to reduce the arrival of migrants by sea on the peninsula.