Human smugglers sentenced to jail over death of Aylan Kurdi
13:19, 04/03/2016, FridayU: Update: 13:24, 04/03/2016, Friday
Yeni Şafak
Two defendants who illegally took Kurdish toddler Aylan Kurdi and his family, other refugees to Greece, sentenced to 4 years, two months in prison
The two human smugglers who illegally took three-year-old Kurdish boy Aylan Kurdi and others who died in the Mediterranean Sea on an ill-fated voyage to Greece, was sentenced to 4 years and two months in prison.
The two defendants were sentenced for 'human smuggling,' although they were acquitted of 'causing death by conscious negligence.'
Aylan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Syrian refugee, was drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on September 2 of 2015.
The boy and his family boarded a small inflatable boat which capsized about five minutes after leaving a beach at Bodrum in Turkey.
Sixteen people were in the boat, which was taking them to the Greek island of Kos.
Images of the body of Aylan Kurdi – a Syrian child washed ashore on a Turkish beach last September – prompted an international outcry about the refugee crisis in Europe. The boy's mother and brother also died in the accident.
Refugees often attempt to enter Europe through Greece, crossing the Mediterranean from Turkey at great risk on small, often flimsy rafts and other vessels.
Turkey has been putting a great deal of effort into fighting against human smuggling.