Overview

• Four defendants, three Syrians and one German aged 28 to 44, are on trial at the Landgericht Traunstein.
• Prosecutors allege the group moved almost 800 mostly Syrian migrants from Serbia via Hungary and Austria to Germany between 2022 and 2024 using a Hawala-backed guarantee system that generated several million euros.
• One defendant acknowledged illegal Hawala transactions but denied any role in smuggling, a claim the presiding judge challenged while urging all defendants to testify.
• The 36-year-old main accused is linked to a Belarus–Latvia trek in which two women died from exhaustion and is also charged with ordering violent crimes including attempted murder tied to a family dispute.
• The court has scheduled 23 hearing days running through mid-December with verdicts still to come.