The attempt to enter the Spanish enclave resulted in June 24 with the death of twenty-three people according to Moroccan authorities.
Le Monde with AFP
Moroccan justice condemned Thursday evening October 6 on appeal to three years’ imprisonment eighteen African migrants having taken part in the deadly attempt to enter into the end of June in the Spanish enclave of Melilla (North of Morocco ), we learned from the defense. “Eighteen migrants arrested on June 24 were sentenced by the Nador Court of Appeal [Moroccan border city of Melilla] to three years in prison,” the defense lawyer Mbarek Bouirig told AFP.
The eighteen condemned – who are part of around sixty migrants in an irregular situation arrested following the drama of June 24 – had received eleven months in prison at first instance. The Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) denounced in a tweet “a repressive judicial system” at the end of the judgment.
These migrants were prosecuted for “illegal entry on Moroccan soil”, “violence against agents of the public force”, “armed crowd” and “refusal to comply”. On June 24, nearly 2,000 migrants from Sudan – a very poor country undermined by conflicts and led by a military regime – tried to enter into force in the Spanish city of Melilla via the Moroccan border post Nador.
the heaviest human assessment ever recorded
The drama killed 23 people among migrants according to Moroccan authorities, 27 According to the AMDH, the main independent human rights association in Morocco, causing strong international indignation.
This human assessment is the heaviest ever recorded during one of the many migrant attempts to enter Melilla and the Spanish enclave close to Ceuta which constitute the only land borders of the European Union with the African continent . Following this drama, several dozen migrants have already been sentenced to prison terms, which were then increased on appeal by Moroccan justice.
Located at the northwest tip of Africa, Morocco is a transit country for many emigration candidates who seek to join Europe from its Atlantic or Mediterranean coast, or crossing the fences that separate Morocco from the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.