MYTILENE, Greece (AP) 鈥 Two dozen Greek and foreign aid workers and volunteers who participated in migrant rescue operations on an eastern Greek island have gone on trial in a smuggling-related case that鈥檚 been widely criticized by human rights groups.
The 24 defendants deny all the charges, saying they did nothing more than help rescue people whose lives were in danger. The trial in the town of Mytilene on Lesbos began Tuesday and was adjourned until Friday.
The aid workers include prominent Syrian human rights worker Sarah Mardini, a refugee herself and competitive swimmer whose sister Yusra Mardini was part of the refugee swimming team at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021. The sisters鈥 story was made into a Netflix movie.
Mardini, who was not present for Tuesday鈥檚 hearing, and fellow volunteer Sean Binder spent more than three months in jail in Lesbos after their 2018 arrest on misdemeanor charges including espionage, forgery and unlawful use of radio frequencies.
The case was initially set to go ahead in 2021 but was postponed over procedural issues. The two are also under investigation for felonies, but no such charges have yet been brought.
鈥淲hat is on trial today is human rights. That is the fundamental problem,鈥 Binder said outside court before Tuesday鈥檚 hearing.
鈥淲e are desperate to go to trial because what we did was legal,鈥 Binder said. 鈥淎nd we need the judge to acknowledge that we need to get through this, because until then, there is a shadow of doubt, not over me alone, but over anybody who does search and rescue.鈥
Defense lawyers filed objections Tuesday on procedural issues regarding the way the prosecution has been handled, said Cleo Papapantoleon, one of the lawyers, adding that the court could rule on the objections when it reconvenes on Friday.
鈥淲e鈥檝e spent the entire morning giving reason after reason, irrefutable reasons why this trial could not continue. Because the prosecution has made mistake after mistake, they鈥檝e violated our human rights, they鈥檝e made procedural errors,鈥 Binder said after the adjournment.
鈥淎ll we鈥檙e asking for, all our lawyers have demanded, is that the rule of law is respected, that Greek laws are respected. We want the rule of law. And now we鈥檒l find out on Friday whether we get the rule of law or the rule of flaws,鈥 he added.
Human rights group Amnesty International has described the case against the aid workers as 鈥渇arcical鈥 and called on Greek authorities to drop the charges.
鈥淪arah and Sean did what any of us should do if we were in their position. Helping people at risk of drowning in one of the deadliest sea routes in Europe and assisting them on the shoreline is not a crime,鈥 Nils Muiznieks, director of Amnesty鈥檚 European Regional Office, said in a statement ahead of Tuesday's hearing.
鈥淭his trial reveals how the Greek authorities will go to extreme lengths to deter humanitarian assistance and discourage migrants and refugees from seeking safety on the country鈥檚 shores, something which we see in a number of European countries,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t is farcical that this trial is even taking place.鈥
Greece, which saw around a million migrants and refugees cross to its shores from nearby Turkey at the height of the refugee crisis in 2015, has clamped down on migration, erecting a fence along much of its land border with Turkey and increasing sea patrols near its islands.
Greek officials say they have a strict but fair migration policy. They also deny, despite increasing evidence to the contrary, conducting illegal summary deportations of people arriving on Greek territory without allowing them to apply for asylum, a procedure known as 鈥減ushbacks.鈥
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Becatoros contributed from Athens, Greece.
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