A Greek people smuggler was sentenced to 103 years in prison for ferrying groups of migrants across the Aegean Sea to Europe, local media reported Sunday.
The 63-year-old smuggler was arrested in June 2015 aboard a yacht carrying 47 people, including 14 children, after a chase with the Greek coastguard off the island of Tilos, near Turkey.
The man, who had previously disembarked another group of migrants on the island, only brought the vessel to a halt after the coastguard fired warning shots, the reports said.
He had previously been prosecuted for people trafficking and was also implicated in a case involving the deliberate sinking of a boat, the reports added.
Over 800,000 migrants fleeing war, persecution and hardship in the Middle East and Asia have landed on the Greek islands from Turkey in 2015. Most continued on to northern Europe.
A Greek people smuggler was sentenced to 103 years in prison for ferrying groups of migrants across the Aegean Sea to Europe, local media reported Sunday.
The 63-year-old smuggler was arrested in June 2015 aboard a yacht carrying 47 people, including 14 children, after a chase with the Greek coastguard off the island of Tilos, near Turkey.
The man, who had previously disembarked another group of migrants on the island, only brought the vessel to a halt after the coastguard fired warning shots, the reports said.
He had previously been prosecuted for people trafficking and was also implicated in a case involving the deliberate sinking of a boat, the reports added.
Over 800,000 migrants fleeing war, persecution and hardship in the Middle East and Asia have landed on the Greek islands from Turkey in 2015. Most continued on to northern Europe.
