Europe’s largest trial of humanitarian workers adjourned in Lesvos

A Lesvos court on Thursday adjourned the trial of 24 humanitarian workers who took part in search and rescue operations on the Greek islands, saying it wasn’t competent to try the case.

The group of Greek and international volunteers were to be tried on espionage-related offences that can carry a sentence of up to eight years in prison. Separately, they face smuggling charges including fraud, membership of a criminal organisation and money laundering, which could lead to up to 25 years imprisonment. These are still under investigation.

According to Human Rights Watch, the espionage charges are based on a police report that shows the aid workers monitored the radio channels of the Greek coast guard and of the EU border force, Frontex. The report acknowledges the radio channels are not encrypted.

The Lesvos court decided the case should be tried by a higher court, and the date of the next hearing has yet to be defined.

Human rights groups have condemned the trial and said all charges should be dropped, with Amnesty International calling them “trumped up” and “farcical.”

“This emblematic case demonstrates how far the Greek authorities will go to deter people from helping refugees and migrants. Stopping rescue operations doesn’t stop people from making dangerous journeys, it simply makes those journeys more perilous,” said Nils Muiznieks, Director of Amnesty International’s European Regional Office.

Many of the defendants have spent several months in pre-trial detention. They deny the charges, maintaining they were simply helping people in distress.

“Today’s decision is further proof of the absurdity of this case. All we have done is assist people seeking safety at a time of need. After today’s decision, our lives are once again left on hold,” said defendant Seán Binder, a 27-year-old German national.

Among those facing trial is 25-year-old Syrian refugee Sara Mardini, whose sister Yusra Mardini was part of the refugee swimming team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo earlier this year.

The two sisters made headlines around the world when at the height of the refugee crisis in 2015, they pulled 18 fellow passengers of a sinking dinghy to safety.

Sara Mardini was held in Athens’ maximum security prison and was later granted asylum in Germany. She has been barred from entering Greece and is therefore not able to attend her own trial.

The group were affiliated with the Emergency Response Center International (ERCI), a nonprofit that operated on Lesvos from 2016 to 2018, when the island was on the frontline of the crisis. 

“The slipshod investigation and absurd charges, including espionage, against people engaged in life-saving work reeks of politically motivated prosecution,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch, ahead of the trial.

 A European Parliament report published in June called the trial "the largest case of criminalization of solidarity in Europe".