Turkish captain sentenced to 28 years in Greece for migrant trafficking

MUĞLA – Doğan News Agency

REUTERS Photo

A Greek court has sentenced a Turkish captain to 28 years in prison for bringing Syrian migrants into the country using a speed boat last year.

The police stopped the boat near the island of Kos and detained 32-year-old Salih Çalışkan on Oct. 15, 2013.

The boat, which set sail from Turkey’s resort town of Bodrum and headed to the Greek island of Kos, was carrying 32 Syrian migrants. A court in Rhodes sentenced Çalışkan to 28 years in prison, according to a local news website, www.rodiaki.gr.

Çalışkan allegedly took 2,500 euros from each migrant for the journey. Several migrants disembarked from the boat when Greek police found them, according to the report.

He was captured on the boat as he was attempting to return Turkey.