KECSKEMET, Hungary — Four men suspected of being involved in the deaths of 71 migrants found in a truck in Austria were placed under preliminary arrest Saturday by a Hungarian court.
The preliminary arrests will be in place until the suspects are indicted on Sept. 29, at the latest, said Ferenc Bicskei, president of the Kecskemet Court.
The court agreed with prosecutors that the severity of the crime and the risk that the suspects would flee justified their arrest. Bicskei said the four suspects appealed the decision, saying they had not committed any crimes.
Three Bulgarian suspects are ages 29, 30 and 50, officials said, while the fourth suspect – an Afghan – is 28 years old.
The refrigerated truck with the dead migrants was found Thursday in the safety lane of the main Budapest-to-Vienna highway. The suspects were detained later that day in southern Hungary, near the border with Serbia, where Hungary is building a 13-foot high fence.
The human trafficking case is being heard in Kecskemet, in central Hungary, because the truck set off from that city before picking up the migrants near the border with Serbia, a spokesman said.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.