A preliminary hearings judge in the Sicilian city of Palermo has sentenced two men to 20 years in prison on charges of “detaining and torturing migrants” who were transiting through Libya while trying to reach Italy.
Both men are from Bangladesh and have allegedly committed the crimes in the Zuhara prison in Libya.
The pair, aged 37 and 33 respectively, were found guilty of detaining prisoners and torturing migrants before they embarked on boats headed for Italy.
The investigation leading up to the trial was coordinated by Italian prosecutors when the alleged victims accused the defendants of “holding them captive and beating them up for months.”
Both of the accused men migrated to Italy on May 28, 2020, and were reportedly identified by other migrants who had stayed at the camp. The arrest was made on July 6, 2020.
During a pretrial hearing, migrants who traveled with the defendants identified the individuals and recalled the inhumane treatment they subjected them to.
Prosecutors ordered a medical examination on the witnesses, which confirmed their version of facts, attesting they were indeed subjected to torture.
Some victims additionally provided the court and prosecutor with video evidence from within the prison.
Investigators also found photos on social media platform Facebook, showing the defendants in the Zuhara prison carrying AK47 rifles, which migrants say were used to hit them.
A 2020 Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that a growing number of sub-Saharan migrants intercepted in the Mediterranean by Libyan coast guards are being sent to unofficial detention centers in Libya, where they are frequently subjected to torture and sometimes, enslavement.
According to United Nations reports, at least 3,000 sub-Saharan migrants have gone missing in Libyan prisons and unofficial detention centers in 2020.
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