Greece – A trial of two dozen humanitarian workers has begun in Greece, with charges related to their work with refugees on the island of Lesbos. Human rights groups have heavily criticised Greek authorities over the case.
Outside the courthouse on Thursday, friends and family of the defendants, as well as volunteer aid workers, gathered in solidarity with the workers facing trial.
Police and secret police patrolled the area as journalists were kept out the courthouse on the pretext of Covid restrictions.
Proceedings were halted soon after they began because of an apparent lack of Greek-English interpreters. It was unclear when the trial would resume.
Rights groups have called the accusations baseless and an attempt to smear the work of humanitarians performing search-and-rescue operations.
“Until today I was hoping that the charges would be dropped altogether, this trial should never have happened,” Giorgos Kosmopoulos from Amnesty International told Al Jazeera, adding that he has noticed a trend across Europe to criminalise people doing humanitarian work.
The defendants were members of an NGO, the Emergency Response Center International (ERCI), a search-and-rescue group that operated on the Greek island from 2016 to 2018.
They face up to eight years in prison for state-secret espionage and disclosure and 25 years in jail for charges including smuggling and money laundering.
Thursday’s proceedings today are focused on the spying charges. If the defendants are found guilty, they will be not jailed at this point, but they face jail with the cumulative charges.
Sean Binder, 27, an Irish citizen and rescue diver, is among the defendants and is present in court.
Sarah Mardini, the Syrian competitive swimmer who was hailed as a hero for saving refugees in peril at sea, is another defendant. She is banned from entering Greece and lives in Germany, where she has asylum.
There have been widespread actions of solidarity with those accused this week, in Lesbos and elsewhere in Europe – including protests outside the Greek embassy in Brussels and London demanding the charges be dropped.
Questions have been asked in the Irish Dail Éireann or the lower house, about the case with Paul Murphy the TD (MP) for Dublin South-West tweeting: “Saving lives is not a crime!”
Forty-nine organisations, including the Greek Council for Refugees, Oxfam, Dutch Council for Refugees and Legal Centre Lesbos, signed a letter urging Greece to abandon the case. Courtesy: Al-Jazeera.com
