The Liège Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday heard defendants in a major human trafficking case involving around 30 persons allegedly linked to a criminal organisation said to have earned €15,000 per trip organised along the Balkan route.
Two Turkish nationals are suspected of being the masterminds of the criminal organisation, which recruited individuals through a WhatsApp group in Belgium to serve as drivers to pick up migrants along the route. In two and a half years of activity, the organisation allegedly trafficked 3,000 to 5,000 migrants .
On Tuesday, the court heard various defendants - masterminds, recruiters or drivers - with a view to shedding light on the workings of the organisation. The proceedings took place, at times, in a tense atmosphere. Some of the defendants claimed to have been threatened, while others referred to statements made with regard to the settling of scores.
It would appear from the investigation that the organisation paid recruiters and drivers for each trip organised and completed.
“The case highlights a vast trafficking operation and involves a real criminal organisation, with well-defined roles and sums of €15,000 awarded for each trip made,” said Me Jean-Pierre Jacques, lawyer for Myria, the federal migration centre against human trafficking, which has filed a civil action suit.
Submissions by the plaintiffs in the civil action suit and the prosecution are to be heard on Thursday.
