A Dutch court on Monday began the trial of an Eritrean man accused of leading a violent migrant smuggling network that trafficked East Africans to Europe under harrowing conditions.

Prosecutors allege that the suspect, identified as Tewelde Goitom, also known as Amanuel Walid, extorted families of migrants held in detention camps in Libya, demanding large ransoms for their release.

Goitom, who appeared in court wearing jeans and a blue jacket, denied the charges, claiming he was wrongly identified. “I am still the one I said I was earlier,” he said through an interpreter. The 2022 extradition from Ethiopia, where he was convicted of similar crimes, brought him to the Netherlands for trial.

Dutch prosecutors said the case is among the largest human smuggling prosecutions ever held in the country and is expected to continue for three weeks. They also plan to merge the case with that of Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam, one of the world’s most wanted traffickers, who escaped from Ethiopian custody in 2020 and is now detained in the United Arab Emirates awaiting extradition.

Prosecutors claim Dutch jurisdiction because parts of the smuggling network allegedly operated in the Netherlands, while the defense argued there is “no clear connection,” saying payments were made in Eritrea or through the UAE.

Refugee aid group VluchtelingenWerk reported a rise in Eritrean asylum seekers in the Netherlands, many fleeing repression and indefinite national service in their home country. A recent UN probe found that Eritrean conscripts face torture, sexual violence, and forced labor. About 28,000 people of Eritrean descent currently live in the Netherlands.