Turkey wants 35 yrs jail over refugee toddler’s death

Turkish prosecutors on Thursday demanded 35-year jail terms for two alleged people-smugglers blamed for the death of a three-year-old boy whose beached corpse came to symbolise Syria’s refugee crisis, local media reported.

The suspects, both Syrians, stand accused of “causing death by deliberate negligence” and “migrant smuggling” after five Syrian refugees including Kurdish toddler Aylan Kurdi died when their boat sank in September while on its way to Greece, state-run Anatolia news agency reported. The sight of Aylan’s body, face down in the sand on a beach outside the southwestern resort of Bodrum, caused an outpouring of anger across the world, pressuring European leaders to begin to tackle the refugee crisis.