An Iraqi national who organised the smuggling of migrants across the Lithuanian-Belarusian border with accomplices was sentenced to imprisonment by the Vilnius Regional Court.
Iraqi national B.Y.M.A. was found guilty of organising the illegal transportation of people across the state border and was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison, the Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday.
The court also ordered the Iraqi national to pay the State Border Guard Service 3,000 euros in extradition costs.
B.Y.M.A., who came to Lithuanian as an irregular migrant, decided to help his compatriots reach Western Europe via Lithuania and other countries. He smuggled people across the borders between April and July 2021.
According to the case, B.Y.M.A. acted with a group of accomplices from Iraq, Belarus, Lithuania, and Germany.
While in Lithuania, he coordinated with his accomplices the smuggling of migrants across the state border, promising to arrange their further journey to Western European countries once they entered Lithuania.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, he organised the smuggling of 23 Iraqi nationals from Belarus to Lithuania.
In the summer of 2022, B.Y.M.A. was arrested in Germany and returned to Lithuania in the execution of a European Arrest Warrant.
The verdict of the Vilnius Regional Court can still be appealed.
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