Four jailed over tunnel attack
Four young refugees were today jailed for four months for breaking down security barriers at the Channel Tunnel, allowing hundreds of illegal immigrants to try to cross to Britain by foot.
In fast-track legal proceedings, the court in Boulogne also ordered the four men - three Kurdish Iraqis and an Afghan - to pay a total of two million francs (£195,000) to Eurotunnel.
More than 500 illegal immigrants invaded the tunnel late on Tuesday, and the incident ended when police fired tear gas at the crowds and hunted down others in the tunnel.
The refugees had been staying at a Red Cross centre at Sangatte, near Calais, which has become a magnate for people hoping to slip into Britain.
Every night dozens of refugees attempt the dangerous crossing, trying either to jump on trains or cross the tunnel on foot, but such a large-scale attempt is rare.
The four refugees jailed and fined were Reza Mohamad, a 20-year-old Afghan, and Kurdish Iraqis Ismail Tapol, 19, Ahmad Rachid, 21, and Aomid Kakabira, 21.
All four, who had been held in police custody since the incident, denied the accusations against them.
Some 39 others taken into custody at the site were released today. They are to face trial in the coming weeks, assuming they report to authorities.
Both Eurotunnel and the Red Cross have accused the refugees of staging a publicity stunt, saying they knew it would be impossible to complete the crossing in such great numbers.
Eurotunnel says it intercepted about 18,500 refugees trying to cross the tunnel in the first half of 2001.
The company has demanded that the French government dismantle the Sangatte centre.
France is instead setting up more centres in northern France to ease Sangatte’s burden.
