The trial of 24 volunteers including a Syrian refugee and many foreigners, accused in 2018 of helping migrants to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, was adjourned Thursday, November 18 and referred to a higher court, according to the AFP.
Lesvos' criminal court of first instance "
decided that it was not competent to try this case because a lawyer was among the defendants and according to the Greek jurisdiction, he must be tried by the court of appeal
", declared Me Haris Petsikos to the media on leaving the Mytilene courthouse, capital of Lesbos.
No date has been set for the new trial referred to the Mytilene Court of Appeal.
Read alsoIn Lesbos, immigration remains a time bomb
The activists are accused of "
participating in illegal immigration
" by helping migrants reach Lesvos after crossing the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey.
Among the accused are Sean Binder, a young German and a Syrian refugee Sarah Mardini living in Germany, who had rescued refugees in the Aegean with her Olympic swimmer sister during the 2015 migration crisis. These two young people had been detained for more than three months in a Greek prison after their arrest before being released on condition in December 2018. They were then able to leave the country.
They face five years in prison if found guilty.
"The trial does not seem fair"
"
I feel very angry (...) because we have to wait for years more,
" rescue diver Binder, 27, who lives in the UK and has traveled to Lesvos for the trip, told reporters. trial. "
The trial does not seem fair,
" he added, saying there is a legal vacuum that is blocking independent rescue efforts and causing lives to be lost at sea. Sarah Mardini has a judicial ban on returning to Greece , that is why she was represented by her lawyer. "
It's frustrating that we have to wait more and redo all the work that we have already done,
" lamented Sarah Mardini after the adjournment of the trial on her Instagram account.
Sarah and Sean are also indicted for the crimes of "
participation in a criminal organization
" aimed at illegal immigration and for "
espionage
", punishable by a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison but the investigation is still at the stage of l instruction, according to Mr. Petsikos. Many NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), accused the Greek authorities of "
criminalizing aid to migrants
".
The volunteers are on trial for being members of the Emergency Response Center International (ERCI), a search and rescue NGO that operated in Lesvos between 2016 and 2018. The arrests forced the NGO to cease operations, which included the provision of medical care and informal education to migrants and asylum seekers.
Twenty-four people drowned in 2021 in the eastern Mediterranean trying to enter Europe, including four children and a woman, according to HRW.