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.
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Denne historien er fra June 04, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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