The case has put Latvia's harsh laws on migration under the spotlight and comes as a rights activist also faces jail time, for helping refugees who crossed into Latvia via the country's border with Belarus.
Dutch citizens Abdulaal Hussein, a 24-year-old actor, and Martine Doppen, a 30-year-old climate campaigner, have been released on bail. They are due to stand trial this year.
Hussein, who is of Sudanese origin, said his younger sister, Mabroka, left Sudan last spring after taking part in a documentary that highlighted her activism against the regime there and receiving threats.
After making it to Egypt, desperate to reach the safety of Europe, she paid intermediaries to help her with a journey via Russia and Belarus. Her group was able to cross the border to Latvia but the smugglers left her and a group of four other Sudanese people at an abandoned farmhouse without food, water or heating.
"When she was able to contact us with her location, we tried to find someone in Latvia who could help her but it was impossible, so we decided to go there ourselves and rescue her," Doppen said. A shaky handheld video shows the moment of joy when Hussein and his sister were reunited. He and Doppen took Mabroka and two other Sudanese women in the group to their car and drove them to an acquaintance's house in Lithuania.
Esta historia es de la edición June 04, 2024 de The Guardian.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición June 04, 2024 de The Guardian.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Football's footprint Uefa trumpets its green ambitions but opts to ignore elephant in the room
Didier Deschamps wasn't amused. Les Bleus had fought hard to see off an excellent Austria side in the evening game and needed to rest.
Coach, physio ...manicurist? Elite tennis is now 'a travelling circus'
The rise of huge entourages for top players means even Wimbledon is struggling to make space for everyone
Boeing media briefing on door blowout 'violated rules'
Boeing has been sanctioned by the top US accident investigator for having \"blatantly violated\" regulations by revealing private information and speculating about what caused January's cabin panel blowout on a brand new Alaska Airlines plane.
Bolivia's army and navy chiefs held after apparently bungled military coup attempt
The former heads of Bolivia's army and navy are among a dozen people arrested for their alleged roles in a seemingly bungled military coup designed to topple the South American country's leftwing president, Luis Arce.
Le Pen: we will win majority and take military decisions over war in Ukraine
Marine Le Pen has said she expects her far-right National Rally (RN) party to win an absolute majority in France's general election, form a government and take over at least some defence and armed forces decisionmaking - including on Ukraine.
High levels of harmful bacteria found in river at Henley before regatta
Harmful E coli bacteria have been found at high levels at Henley, where elite rowers are to compete in an international regatta next week.
'Look at the state of the NHS' Junior doctors on the picket line
'Im itching to get back to work, to get back to the grindstone,\" says Matthew Alexander, a junior radiology doctor. \"Nobody wants to be here, nobody wants to be on strike.\"
Roy wins PEN prize while under threat of Indian prosecution
The Indian author Arundhati Roy has been awarded the PEN Pinter prize two weeks after Indian authorities granted permission to prosecute the writer over comments she made about Kashmir 14 years ago.
Reform UK withdraws candidate revealed to have been BNP member
A Reform UK general election candidate has been dropped after it emerged that he had been on a list of members of the British National party (BNP).
Betting row Met says dropped Tory candidate could face police inquiry
The Metropolitan police has indicated that dropped Conservative candidate Craig Williams could come under the scope of a criminal investigation into betting on the election that has overshadowed Rishi Sunak's campaign.
