Lawsuits | The Iraqi brothers were convicted of exceptionally extensive human smuggling in Finland

Helsinki the district court has issued a verdict on an exceptionally large-scale human smuggling, in which Finland acted as a transit country.

More than 160 people were the target of human smuggling. Among them were citizens of Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Cameroon, Cuba, Congo, Pakistan, India and Mali.

There were adults and children, the youngest children.

Judgment including 26 years old Rezhwan Arsalan Jamal participated in organizing trips for 163 people. It was a total of 15 trips.

He was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for aggravated organization of illegal immigration.

24 years old Zhwan Arsalan Jamal according to the verdict, participated in the organization of six trips. They concerned 68 people.

Zhwan Jamal was sentenced to two years and three months in prison. He was also guilty of grossly organizing illegal immigration.

Convicted are brothers of Iraqi origin.

They confessed in court to the acts according to the charges, except for minor details. One of them told the court that their own family once came from Iraq to Latvia as asylum seekers.

According to his story, the older of the convicts had first returned to Iraq, but then came back to Latvia.

Then, according to his own words, he had met people who had wanted to leave Latvia for other parts of Europe. That’s why he said he started human smuggling.

Human smuggling took place from spring to autumn last year.

The target persons of human smuggling had first come to Russia and continued their journey to Belarus. From there, they had moved illegally across the land border to Latvia.

According to the verdict, the Jamals organized people from the Latvian reception center to the rest of Europe without travel documents. Finland was a transit country in human smuggling.

Persons imported through Finland ended up in Germany, for example.

According to the verdict, the human smuggling carried out by the Jamals was only part of a wider scheme in which people were organized from other parts of Europe.

Several smuggled persons told the interrogations that they had agreed with the organizing body for the entire trip from their country of origin to Europe. Thus, Jamalie’s human smuggling from Latvia onwards was only the last part of the whole journey.

Rezhwan Jamal admitted in court that he participated in the activities of a larger organized crime group. Instead, Zhwan Jamal denied that he knew that his actions would be related to a wider crime scene.

Zhwan Jamal has previously been convicted of a similar crime in both Latvia and Germany.

The Helsinki District Court ordered the duo to jointly and severally pay 81,600 euros in criminal proceeds to the Finnish state. In addition, Rezhwan Jamal, who received a longer sentence, will have to pay 79,200 euros to the state alone.