NEWS

Greece jails Palestinian over migrant smuggling

Greece jails Palestinian over migrant smuggling

A Greek court in the northern city of Thessaloniki has convicted a Palestinian man of running a major migrant-smuggling ring and sentenced him to 13 years in prison.

Judges ruled on Tuesday that 29-year-old Jamal Owda was active during the height of Europe's immigration crisis, from July 2014 to December 2015 – when he was arrested in Britain following a Greek request.

Migrants allegedly paid the ring 1,500 euros ($1,900) each to be taken from Greece to Serbia by road, at a time before Balkan countries closed their borders to check migratory flows. The traffickers' annual revenues exceeded 10 million euros ($12 million).

Owda, who denied the charges, was extradited to Greece last year after British authorities rejected his asylum application. Another 22 people have earlier been convicted of belonging to the group. [AP]

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