Egyptian people trafficker jailed

Egyptian people trafficker jailed

EGYPT: A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian man to seven years in prison on Saturday for his role in the drowning of some 353 migrants on an overcrowded vessel in the Java Sea as they tried to reach Australia in 2001.

The court found Mootaz Muhammad Hasan guilty of manslaughter on the grounds that the vessel was not seaworthy.

Hasan, also known as Abu Quassey, was deported to Egypt from Indonesia this year after serving a six-month sentence for visa violations. Indonesia turned down an Australia extradition request, citing "technical reasons".

Prosecutors told the court that Hasan and a colleague received US$10,000 from each family which boarded the vessel on the journey from Lampung to Australia, where they intended to seek political asylum. Only 44 survived.

Indonesia did not charge Hasan for arranging the journey because it has no law dealing with trafficking in humans. -- Reuters