The trial of 24 aid workers accused of human trafficking and espionage begins on Tuesday 10 January. They are now accused by Athens of being the equivalent of smugglers and risk up to 25 years in prison.
From our correspondent in Athens, Joel Bronner
The stated mission of the 24 humanitarian workers who find themselves in court on Tuesday was to save lives at sea for the NGO Erci (Emergency Response Center International) between 2016 and 2018. This is the real start of this very political trial. which had been postponed for the first time from its opening in November 2021, for lack of competent jurisdiction.
Lesbos, the main entry points for migrants in Europe from 2015, has become a symbol. The Greek island, neighboring the Turkish coasts, notably sheltered Moria, the largest refugee camp in Europe, which definitively went up in smoke during a fire at the end of 2020. It is precisely off this island of Lesbos that the members of the NGO ERCI, in collaboration at the time with the Greek Coast Guard, carried out rescue work.
Sarah Mardini and Sean Binder
At the heart of this trial, two young rescuers at sea find themselves particularly publicized. A Syrian refugee now in Germany, Sarah Mardini fled the civil war in 2015. After their overloaded boat broke down, Sarah and her sister, excellent swimmers, jump into the water and save the twenty or so passengers who accompany, before docking in Lesbos. The story of the two sisters was brought to the screen by Netflix via the film swimmers.
This island of Lesbos, Sarah Mardini then returns there, a year later, to help asylum seekers in distress at sea. She then works there with Sean Binder, a young German diver who grew up in Ireland. ” I often hear that coming to the aid of people at risk of drowning helps to weaken European values, because the people who arrive pose a threat to us all. I think, however, that we have already lost the values of peace and justice if we close our borders to people in distress. “, he confided last month during a press conference.
A criminalization of humanitarian action
If they are put forward, it is in particular because the image of Sarah Mardini and Sean Binder contrasts violently with the very heavy charges which weigh against the humanitarian workers, such as that of “organized criminal gang”. A “prank” for Amnesty International and for the defense who see in these prosecutions above all a political maneuver.
” For us, humanitarian aid is not a crime and it is not just a slogan. The behavior of the defendants was simply not criminal. They were only doing their duty as humanitarian workers. Citizens from all over Europe had come together to help and save lives. That’s their only crime “, denounces Vassilis Kerasiotis, the lawyer for two of the defendants prosecuted by Greek justice.
Today, for fear of legal reprisals, no NGOs are patrolling off Lesbos. Deterring solidarity actions at the border was, it seems, the goal of these inconclusive prosecutions, which Human Rights Watch describes as ” politically motivated and which Amnesty International calls “ unfair and baseless “.
► To read also: Greece: 24 humanitarian workers tried for migrant rescue operations