The Palma de Mallorca Audiencia has sentenced two young men of Algerian origin to four years in prison each for piloting a crowded small boat that reached Mallorca’s shores in mid-June 2023. The passengers, all sub-Saharan Africans, were forced to disconnect their mobile phones before departure. The twenty occupants did not have enough space to sit during the journey because the boat was small and there were insufficient provisions or life jackets, putting lives at risk.
The court of the second section imposed the same four-year term on each captain as requested by the prosecution, deeming them responsible for a crime against the rights of foreign citizens. The two defendants, who denied the charges during the trial, have been in provisional detention since June 2023, when they were arrested. Their defenses had requested acquittal.
According to the verdict, which is not yet final and can be appealed to the Higher Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands, the dinghy reached the Ses Salines area near Colònia de Sant Jordi on June 12, 2023, shortly before seven in the evening. The vessel was captained by the two defendants, both Algerian nationals with no prior criminal record.
The vessel carried twenty people who did not have enough physical space to sit during the crossing. All occupants, except the two accused, were of sub-Saharan origin.
The Court notes that the voyage was conducted without the necessary provisions, life jackets, or flares. In addition, the boat lacked any identifying inscription and did not show the motor’s serial number or power.[Citation]
Seized as evidence, the court found that the migrants’ lives were put at risk. The report explains that the danger is evident from the circumstances: the boat was not appropriate for the crossing, it was overcrowded, space was extremely limited, food and drinks were insufficient, essential safety conditions were missing, the journey lasted more than twenty-four hours, and phones were disconnected. It is clear that the passengers faced a life-threatening situation.
The Provincial Court cites a Supreme Court ruling stating that the protected interest is not merely migratory flows but must extend to safeguarding the dignity and rights of foreigners as human beings, preventing them from being treated as objects for unlawful and profitable purposes, which would gravely injure moral integrity.
Judging from the court’s findings, those aboard the dinghy, all sub-Saharan, except the accused who were Maghrebi, intended to enter Europe illegally through Spain, transported in a precarious vessel with that intent. Moreover, the defendants were fully aware that they were illegally entering Spanish territory and facilitated that entry through their conduct.
The conviction rests on testimonial evidence, including the statements of National Police officers who prepared the record and the testimony of Protected Witness No. 4, introduced as pre-assembled evidence. The defense challenged the validity of the pre-assembled evidence, but the Court dismissed this objection and found the evidence admissible, as it was obtained with proper legal safeguards and the defense did not object at the time.