Czech News Agency
November 15, 2004
GROUP OF PEOPLE SMUGGLERS SENTENCED
PRAGUE, Nov 15 (CTK) – Fourteen people of a 16-member gang of people
smugglers were today convicted by the Prague 5 District Court and
received from suspended sentences to four years in prison.
According to the prosecutor, the group, led by Chechen man Ilyas
Muzayev, illegally transported over 1,000 refugees to Austria and the
Benelux countries between August 2002 and last October.
Ten men faced charges of criminal conspiracy and illegal border
crossing, while the rest only committed the latter crime, the court
ruled.
The sentences have not yet taken effect.
The highest, four-year penalty, was meted out for Muzayev and another
foreign organiser.
They also have to pay 400,000 crowns, or else they will have to serve
one more year in prison.
Three years in prison will have to be spent by three foreign members
of the gang, who also have to pay a fine of 250,000 to 300,000
crowns.
According to the police, the group, composed of Muzayev, a number of
Armenians, a Romanian, an Egyptian and Czech drivers and taxi
drivers, was linked with similar organisations in Austria and
Germany. At first, the people smugglers organised the transit of
displaced people from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Egypt, while in
recent months they focused on the people from the former Soviet
Union.
The police said that when the group had been shadowed, it had
smuggled at least 1,500 migrants, earning roughly one million euros.
Along with accomplices from Austria and Germany, it may have smuggled
a total of 4,000 people for 2.5 million euros.
According to the Austrian police, the gang demanded about 1,000 euros
per head for its services.
pv/dr/vv