Judge orders preventive detention of 12 fugitives from Palma plane

The judge of the Court of Instruction 6 of Palma has ordered the pre-trial detention without bail of the twelve foreign citizens captured to date for their involvement in the chaos at Palma airport last Friday.

The jailed are part of the passengers on a flight between Casablanca (Morocco) and Istanbul (Turkey) that was diverted to Palma de Mallorca due to a false medical emergency. Once landed, the alleged sick passenger turned out to be in perfect condition and more than 20 men took the opportunity to exit the plane, invade the runway and escape.

Their action forced the Son Sant Joan airport to close for four hours, to cancel and divert flights almost 60 flights.

The judge endorses the thesis of the prosecution, which requested the imprisonment of the suspects for suspected crimes of sedition, favoring illegal immigration and public disorders. The decision to incarcerate them pending trial is due to the seriousness of the suspected crimes and the "high risk" that they will escape.

The defense attorneys requested the immediate expulsion from Spain of the suspects. Most of them refused to testify except for the one who faked the illness - a diabetic coma - who pleaded not guilty.

According to local media, this 32-year-old man already has a police record in Spain after being arrested in 2020 in Marbella for crimes against property and resistance to authority.

Dozen fugitives not found

The police and the Civil Guard continue searching for the other dozen young people who escaped from the plane and who have not yet been found.

Meanwhile, the police are increasingly convinced that everything that happened was the result of a previously prepared plan.

Investigators have found out that the detainees are part of a Moroccan Facebook group called 'Brooklyn', where since last July a user from Casablanca encouraged them to carry out an action identical to the one carried out in Palma de Mallorca.