The end of a “farce”, of “the biggest case of criminalization of solidarity in Europe”. Greek justice on Friday canceled the procedure for “espionage” against 24 humanitarian workers on the island of Lesbos, announced the court where these volunteers are tried, ending a controversial trial denounced by the UN. and NGOs. The island of Lesbos, in the Aegean Sea, one of the main gateways to Europe for migrants, has seen an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East in particular in recent years.
This procedure triggered in 2018 had led to most migrant rescue NGOs ceasing their activities at sea in Greece, a country also accused of practicing illegal pushbacks at its borders to neighboring Turkey. “This kind of trial is really worrying, because it criminalizes actions that save people’s lives and sets a dangerous precedent,” said Elizabeth Throssell, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Friday. United Nations.
Another procedure for migrant smuggling
“We have felt like hostages for four and a half years,” reacted Nasos Karakitsos, one of the main defendants, just after the court’s decision. Among the other defendants is Syrian refugee Sarah Mardini, who with her Olympic swimmer sister inspired a fiction broadcast on Netflix.
The court of Mytilene, capital of the Greek island, took this decision because of procedural flaws, in particular the lack of translation of the indictment for the foreign defendants, all former volunteers wearing relief to migrants, according to the court. A separate procedure targeting these humanitarian workers, in particular for migrant smuggling, is however still under investigation in Greece.