Six years in prison for the owner of the boat that sank in Órzola in 2020

The Las Palmas Court has sentenced this Monday a Moroccan citizen to six years and one day in prison who has recognized that he was the owner of a boat that sank on the night of November 24, 2020 when entering the port of Órzola, Lanzarote, causing the death of eight of its occupants.

The second section of the Provincial Court, chaired by Judge Pilar Parejo, issued a sentence viva voce at the beginning of the trial, by virtue of the agreement reached by the Prosecutor's Office, which initially sought a sentence of 12 years in prison, and the defense of the accused, who agreed with the imposed sentence and the facts for which he was accused.

In this way, for the crime against the rights of foreign citizens, he has been sentenced to four years in prison instead of the eight sought by the Prosecutor's Office at first.

Likewise, for the eight crimes of reckless homicide, he has been sentenced to two years and one day in prison, instead of the four years requested by the Public Ministry at the beginning of the hearing.

In addition, the convicted man, who was the owner of the boat together with another person who died in the incident upon reaching port, will have to compensate with 60,000 euros to each of the identified people who died that night.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the bodies of the eight people could be located when the boat sank, and the fundamental cause of death was proven, which, according to the autopsy performed on them, was drowning.

The Prosecutor's Office, during the hearing held this Monday, has made some modifications to its writing of conclusions based on the agreement reached with the defense, adding in the factual account of what happened that the convicted man was "one more migrant who arrived in the Canary Islands in search of a better life", like the rest of the 36 occupants of the boat.

The defendant has been in provisional prison for these events since November 30, 2020, as agreed by the court of Arrecife (Lanzarote) that investigated the case.