Moroccan Boat Captain Sentenced to 8 Years for Deadly Migrant Crossing Off Spanish Coast

According to sources from the public prosecutor’s office, the accused, after admitting the facts during the trial that took place this week at the provincial court of Cadiz, benefited from a reduced sentence. The prosecution took into account the fact that the defendant, Tarik, had a clean criminal record.

The prosecutor had requested 12 years against him, i.e. 8 years for a crime against the rights of foreign citizens and 4 years for 22 counts of involuntary manslaughter. He was accused of having overloaded the boat and of not having provided the travelers with food, drinks or any other basic safety measures such as life jackets or floats.

The convicted Tarik is one of the 22 survivors of the shipwreck that occurred on November 5, 2018 after the boat carrying more than 40 people on board, including 31 young people from Salé, broke against rocks 150 meters from the coast of Cadiz.