Dutch court hears case against Eritrean human trafficker

Prosecutors in The Netherlands are seeking a 20-year prison sentence for an Eritrean trafficking suspect.

Forty-two-year-old Amanuel Walid - known as Tewelde Goitom – is accused of running a migration route to Europe via Libya along with his organisation.

They say his group detained thousands of African migrants in warehouses in Libya and brutally tortured them to extort ransoms from their families.

This frequently occurred by telephone, during which family members in the Netherlands could reportedly hear the abuse of their relatives live.

Witnesses says victims were detained in horrific conditions and subject to constant beatings and sexual violence, with numerous people said to have died.

At the district court in Zwolle, Goitom, who was extradited to the Netherlands in 2022, only spoke to tell judges they have the wrong man and to invoke his right to remain silent.

He insists he is not who they say he is, but prosecutors have rejected this saying his identify has been confirmed by hundreds of victims.

The trial is the largest human trafficking case ever in the Netherlands and one of the few in Europe looking into criminal networks trafficking migrants through Libya.

Judges are expected to deliver a verdict in January 2026.