AMSTERDAM: An Eritrean man alleged to be a people-smuggling kingpin was extradited Wednesday to the Netherlands by the UAE, paving the way for trial in a Dutch court.
The 41-year-old Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam had been on an international wanted list since 2021 after fleeing while on trial in Ethiopia, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service said in a statement. He was flown to Amsterdam accompanied by Dutch military police.
He is wanted in the Netherlands for crimes including participating in a criminal organization involved in migrant-smuggling, hostage-taking, extortion and violence, including sexual violence.
His case is linked to that of another Eritrean man, Tewelde Goitom, whose trial opened in a Dutch court last month. Prosecutors have sought a 20-year sentence.
Goitom’s defense lawyers want to interview Habtemariam as a witness in their client’s case. It is one of the largest human-smuggling cases ever brought in the Netherlands, prosecutors said.
Goitom told judges he is a victim of mistaken identity. He was extradited to the Netherlands in 2022 from Ethiopia, where he was convicted of similar crimes.
Habtemariam was arrested in Sudan in 2023 following an international manhunt led by the UAE. He is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Saturday.
In a statement, the Dutch prosecution service alleged that the two Eritreans “worked together and earned large sums of money by assaulting and extorting primarily Eritrean migrants. The assault took place in Libya, and the extortion of family members took place in the Netherlands.”
Habtemariam was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment after escaping from custody in Ethiopia while on trial on people-smuggling charges.
Libya in recent years has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed autocrat Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos, smuggling migrants across the country’s land borders with six nations.
Eritrean man accused of people-smuggling is extradited to the Netherlands
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Eritrean man accused of people-smuggling is extradited to the Netherlands
- Habtemariam had been on an international wanted list since 2021 after fleeing while on trial in Ethiopia
- He is wanted in the Netherlands for crimes including participating in a criminal organization involved in migrant-smuggling
Julio Iglesias accused of sexual assault in Caribbean as Spanish prosecutors study the allegations
- The allegations were related to media reports from earlier this week that alleged Iglesias had sexually and physically assaulted two women
- Women’s Link Worldwide said it was representing the two women who had presented the complaint to the Spanish court
BARCELONA: Spanish prosecutors are studying allegations that Grammy-winning singer Julio Iglesias sexually assaulted two former employees at his residences in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
The Spanish prosecutors’ office told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the allegations were related to media reports from earlier this week that alleged Iglesias had sexually and physically assaulted two women who worked in his Caribbean residences between January and October 2021.
Iglesias has yet to speak publicly regarding the allegations. Russell L. King, a Miami-based entertainment lawyer who lists Iglesias as a client on his website, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by the AP.
The Spanish prosecutors’ office that handles cases for Spain’s National Court said that it had received formal allegations against Iglesias by an unnamed party on Jan. 5. Iglesias could potentially be taken in front of the Madrid-based court, which can try alleged crimes by Spanish citizens while they are abroad, according to the court’s press office.
Women’s Link Worldwide, a nongovernmental organization, said in a statement that it was representing the two women who had presented the complaint to the Spanish court. The group said that the women were accusing Iglesias of “crimes against sexual freedom and indemnity such as sexual harassment” and of “human trafficking for the purpose of forced labor and servitude.”
Spanish online newspaper elDiario.es and Spanish-language television channel Univision Noticias published the joint investigation into Iglesias’ alleged misconduct.
Spanish government spokeswoman Elma Saiz said that the media reports regarding Iglesias “demanded respect.”
“Once again I can reaffirm this government’s firm and complete commitment to take on any act of violence, harassment or aggression against women,” Saiz said Tuesday after the media reports were published.
Panky Corcino, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office in the Dominican Republic, declined to comment, saying he couldn’t confirm or deny an investigation.
By law, any case in the Caribbean country that involves sexual aggression or violence must be investigated by prosecutors, even if no one has filed a complaint.
The 82-year-old Iglesias is one of the world’s most successful musical artists after having sold more than 300 million records in more than a dozen languages. After making his start in Spain, he won immense popularity in the United States and wider world in the 1970s and ‘80s. He’s the father of pop singer Enrique Iglesias.
Julio Iglesias won a 1988 Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance for his album “Un Hombre Solo.” He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2019.
Spain’s culture minister said Wednesday that its left-wing government, which holds women’s rights and equality among its priorities, will also consider stripping Iglesias of the state’s Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts that he was awarded in 2010.
“It is something we are studying and evaluating, because evidently we feel obliged to do so when faced by such a serious case,” Culture Minister Ernest Urtusan said.
