The Provincial Court of Las Palmas has acquitted the defendant of being the skipper of the boat that arrived on May 8, 2019, at Los Marisqueos beach, in the municipality of Tinajo. The boat, which was also carrying drugs, crashed into the rocks just before reaching land, killing one of the occupants.
The Prosecutor's Office was asking for 14 years and five months in prison based on the testimony of three witnesses who identified him as responsible for the trip. However, the ruling casts doubt on their testimonies. In the trial, the defendant maintained that these people "agreed to accuse him", pointing out that "they were probably friends of the skipper".
"His participation in the events has not been proven," states the ruling of the First Section of the Court, which concludes that there were "contradictions" in the account of the "protected witnesses." Furthermore, it emphasizes that these statements were assessed "with special caution" to "rule out a motivation consisting of obtaining the benefits derived from the denunciation".
To this is added the "serious contradictions" with what was declared by other defense witnesses, specifically migrant minors who were also traveling on the boat, and who were referred to the La Santa shelter without initially taking their statement. In the trial, they confirmed the defendant's statement, assuring that the skipper made the entire trip with his face covered and that a few hours before arriving in Lanzarote he abandoned the boat in a zodiac, telling them to "fend for themselves".
According to the defendant, he was "very ill" at that moment, his "sugar had dropped" and he lost consciousness. In fact, he claimed that he did not even remember crashing into the rocks and that he "woke up in the hospital." In this regard, the ruling indicates that he did indeed have to be hospitalized after the rescue.
Thus, given the contradictory versions, the Court concludes that it has not been able to reach "sufficient conviction of the defendant's participation in the crime of facilitating the illegal trafficking of people to Spain," extending the same to the crimes of homicide and against public health for which he was also accused. In the boat, which did not completely capsize after the collision, two bundles of hashish were found, with a total weight of 21.70 kilos.