Search Site

Trends banner

TomTom cuts 300 jobs

The firm said it was realigning its organization as it embraces AI.

Aldar nets $953m in sales at Fahid

Aldar said 42 percent of the buyers are under the age of 45.

Qualcomm to Alphawave for $2.4 bn

The deal makes Alphawave the latest tech company to depart London.

Equinor signs $27 bn gas deal

The 10-year contract was signed with Centrica.

ADNOC Drilling secures $1.15bn contract

The contract for two jack-up rigs begins in the second quarter.

Morocco puts migrants on trial for attempt to cross into Spain

Riot police officers cordon off the area after migrants arrive on Spanish soil and cross the fences separating the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco. AFP
  • The hearing came 11 days after at least 23 migrants died during a mass attempt to enter Spain's Melilla enclave on Morocco's northern coast
  • Another 29 migrants, including a minor, face a court hearing on July 13 on charges of "joining a criminal gang to organize and facilitate illegal immigration"
The trial of 36 migrants accused of “illegally entering” Morocco started Monday but was immediately halted, lawyers said, days after a mass attempt to cross into a Spanish enclave. 

The hearing came 11 days after at least 23 migrants died during a mass attempt to enter Spain’s Melilla enclave on Morocco’s northern coast.

“We have asked for a postponement to better prepare the case, as other lawyers had joined the defense team,” lawyer Khalid Ameza told AFP.

The defendants face charges of “illegal entry into Moroccan territory”, violence against security forces, forming an “armed mob” and “refusal to comply” with security forces’ orders.

The next hearing is set for July 12 in the northern Moroccan city of Nador, close to Melilla.

Another 29 migrants, including a minor, face a court hearing in Nador on July 13 on charges of “joining a criminal gang to organize and facilitate illegal immigration”, Ameza said.

The 65 defendants are among around 2,000 irregular migrants who on June 24 stormed Melilla’s heavily armed perimeter fence, one of the only land borders between Africa and the European Union.

While the authorities say 23 migrants died, rights groups say the number was at least 37.

Most come from Sudan and reached Morocco via Libya and Algeria, despite the border between the kingdom and its eastern neighbor being officially closed.

The death toll is the heaviest on record in years of similar attempts by migrants seeking better lives in Europe via Spain’s enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta.

The latest tragedy sparked international outcry, including unusually harsh criticism from the United Nations.