The Provincial Court of Las Palmas will hold two trials next week against the alleged skippers of two boats that arrived in Lanzarote in the past months of March and April. The first hearing will be held on Wednesday the 10th before Section One, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and the second will be on the 12th in Arrecife, before Section Six.
In both cases, the Prosecutor's Office is asking for 8 years in prison for the accused, who are currently already in provisional prison for these events.
One of the boats reached the island at approximately 11:45 p.m. on March 18, with a total of 26 people on board from Agadir, in Morocco. Five days later, the accused was arrested and sent to provisional prison by the Investigating Court Number 2 of Arrecife, after being identified as the alleged skipper of the boat.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, in his country he agreed with other people who have not been able to be identified “to charge various amounts of money to 25 immigrants, to take them to the Canary coasts knowing that they were violating the rules on entry into the national territory and that once they arrived, they would be in an irregular situation in Spain.”
In addition, he points out that he was the one who skippered the boat throughout the journey, which “lacked any security system, as well as life jackets, food, or water, thereby endangering the lives of the immigrants.”
The second trial, with two defendants
In the second trial, there will be two defendants sitting on the bench, also for a crime against the rights of foreign citizens. In this case, the boat arrived on April 2 in Lanzarote, after having left from the same area of Morocco.
The two alleged skippers were identified and sent to prison on April 6, where they remain awaiting this trial.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, in this case they charged 32 immigrants for the trip, by mutual agreement with other people in their country. Later, he maintains that they were in charge of guiding the boat, taking turns between them, and highlights that the lack of security measures also “endangered the lives of the immigrants.”
