Mayor facing refugee trafficking charges released on bail
A former mayor who was remanded in custody, along with five others, last week for his part in a refugee trafficking ring was released on bail Tuesday pending trial.
The former mayor of Mesolongi, western Greece, ran a flying school on the outskirts of the town from where refugees were illegally flown to Italy on a light single engine aircraft.
The gang was involved in 12 air transfers of asylum seekers to Italy since September.
The former mayor, who paid 200,000 euros in bail, is forbidden to leave the country and has to report regularly to his local police station.
One of the pilots was also released on bail, while two other gang members were granted conditional release too.
The suspected masterminds of the gang, a 43-year-old Iraqi national and the former mayor’s 57-year-old pilot cousin, remain in custody.
