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15-year sentence for involvement in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants
The Belgian criminal court, city of Bruges, sentenced a subject from Vietnam to 15 years for being involved in the case of 39 clandestine migrants, found dead as a result of suffocation and heat, in a container from England.
Vo Van Hong, is the name of the accused person, who is also considered the largest leader of the Brussels human trafficking organization.
The president of the court reported this Thursday, January 20, that the 45-year-old Hong presided over a "criminal organization" in Belgian territory.
Between September 2018 and May 2020, he smuggled 115 people, who were destined for the United Kingdom. Time in which he was arrested and deprived of liberty.
In addition, Hong was sanctioned with a fine of 920,000 euros, which represents approximately one million dollars.
It was known that this network had more than 130 transport units, from South West Asia to England, and each person canceled 24,000 euros, which symbolizes more than 27 thousand dollars.
On October 23, 2019, the world was shocked to learn that 39 bodies were found in the back of a truck, located in the Grays industrial area, east of the City of London.
Among the victims there were 31 men and 8 women, who ranged in age from 15 to 44 years. All died of suffocation and hyperthermia due to high temperatures, in the small space of the container.
The truck that arrived in England and that brought the container, came from the well-known Belgian port in Zeebrugge.
There were two places where this human trafficking network was protected, and they were located in the municipality of Anderlecht, Brussels. There were those who wanted to be chosen to go clandestinely to the United Kingdom, but who had previously traveled to Germany and Holland.
For their part, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom and Vietnam also opened legal proceedings and initiated their respective investigations in this case.
In addition, the Belgian judicial system not only prosecuted Van Hong, but also 22 other people, mostly from Vietnam and Belgium.
The total number of defendants was 23, of which five were released from charges and 18 convicted. The first was Van Hong, with 15 years and the other 17 with sentences of up to 10 years.
In January 2021, seven men were convicted of similar charges in the UK. Who will spend three to seven years in prison.
On the other hand, in Vietnam, four men were convicted in September 2020, but they will be held for between two and seven and a half years.
