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A Moroccan appeals court has extended prison terms for 13 migrants from six months to three years, saying they attempted to travel to the Spanish enclave of Melilla on January 9.
About 2,000 people, mostly Sudanese, stormed the frontier on June 24, trying to reach Spanish territory across one of the two European Union borders with Africa. At least 23 people died.
A court in Nador, a northeastern town near the border with Melilla, “extended the immigrant group’s sentence by six months and sentenced them to three years’ imprisonment each,” said lawyer Mubarek Buirig.
They have been accused of “joining a criminal gang of secret migrants,” illegally entering Morocco, and beating law enforcement officers, Buirig said.
Moroccan authorities said 23 illegal migrants were killed in June incidents.
The Moroccan Human Rights Association (AMDH) put the death toll at 27, while rights group Amnesty International said at least 37 people had lost their lives.
In its report, Amnesty International described the incident as a crime under international law and questioned the deadlock and inadequacy of the investigations carried out by both countries.
Amnesty International says the entire incident took place on European soil rejected by Spain.
Minister Isabel Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the Spanish government, said late last year that the national police had responded appropriately to the tragic tragedy.
Yet in December 2022, Spanish prosecutors dropped an investigation into the deaths of more than 20 migrants, saying they found no evidence of criminal conduct by Spanish security forces.
Authorities said 140 Moroccan police officers were injured.
Morocco has since sentenced dozens of migrants to prison terms of up to three years.
AMDH said last month that the punishment was “severe and unjust”.
Melilla and its sister region Ceuta have long attracted people desperate to escape extreme poverty and hunger.
Morocco and Spain both claim migrants are responsible for the tragedy, with Rabat saying some died after falling while trying to climb over fences, as people panicked and a stampede began. He said some people died of suffocation in
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