Traffickers were allowed home

Defendants wept bitter tears at the verdict

The smugglers were caught with refugees in their car in Hungary and sentenced.

(Bild: Polizei Ungarn)

The relief could be seen in the faces of the two accused traffickers when the verdict was announced. When they heard that they would even be allowed to go home, the young men wept tears. The Romanians, who apparently rented cars for a trafficking ring and then made them disappear, had - probably out of fear - taken the sole blame. 

"There is an organizer in the background who commissioned the transfer of the vehicles," prosecutor Ines Eichwalder said in court in Graz on Tuesday. "The defendants were supposed to rent them and never intended to bring them back." In detail, the case involves a Renault Scénic, a Ford Transit and a Citroën Jumpy - total damage of almost 60,000 euros. 

No money received
The two Romanians (two accomplices have already been convicted in Graz) rented the vehicles from a car dealership in southern Styria and brought them back to their home country. "Did you know that the landlord would suffer damage as a result and that the cars would not be returned?" Judge Julia Riffel asked the first defendant. "No, I didn't know that," says the 24-year-old. "Did you think you were getting the cars as a gift?" the judge says ironically. "I didn't think about it at the time."

He didn't get any money for it, the Romanian stoically asserts. "So you committed a crime for free?" the judge asks. "Yes, my lads just asked me to interpret." - "They must be really good lads..."

We rented the cars, drove them to Romania and then parked them there. I don't know anything else. I didn't get any money for it.

Ein angeklagter Rumäne

Backer was a lie
When asked by the public prosecutor why they had initially told the police that a certain "Cristi" had commissioned and paid them to organize the cars for towing, the 24-year-old explained that it was all just a lie. "We invented this lie together." The ominous "Cristi" was also a pure invention. 

Seven-month additional sentence
Although it appears that the 24-year-old and his 25-year-old accomplice are covering up for their big boss out of fear, they remain responsible. As they had already been sentenced to over two years in prison in Hungary for smuggling, they were given seven months - six of which were suspended - as an additional sentence.

When the judge announces that they are now free after serving their sentence, the men can no longer hold back their tears. However, the sentence is not yet final.