The Court of Alicante has sentenced two Algerian citizens, aged 28 and 23, to two years and nine months in prison for being owners of a boat that intended to illegally introduce eleven compatriots into Spain, ten adults and one minor.
Issued by a court of the First Section, the sentence indicates that the precarious boat, seven meters in length and with a 60 horsepower engine, set sail at around 3 a.m. on December 27, 2023 from the coast of Algiers to destination to Alicante with eleven occupants on board.
The two defendants took turns directing it and put the passengers at risk, since the boat did not have vests or safety equipment. Likewise, they also lacked tools for possible repair or lights.
Added to this was that neither of the two defendants had the qualifications required to skipper the boat and they lacked provisions, “putting the life and integrity” of the passengers at risk.
The boat was sighted around 8 p.m. on December 27 by Salvamento Marítimo, which towed it to the port of Alicante. During the oral hearing, the two defendants acknowledged the facts and admitted the terms of the prosecution's accusation, thereby expressing their agreement with the requested penalties.
