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The director of Amnesty International’s European Regional Office Friday urged Greek authorities to drop all charges against two dozen search and rescue volunteers and to stop criminalizing aid workers who assist refugees and migrants in need. Director Nils Muižnieks issued his statement after Greece’s Court of Appeal of Mytilene dropped some of the misdemeanor charges previously laid against the volunteers.
In 2018 Greek authorities charged Sarah Mardini, Seán Binder and 22 other search and rescue volunteers with various misdemeanor and felony offenses, including human smuggling and money laundering, stemming from their efforts to identify and aid migrant boats off the coast of the island of Lesbos.
The court dropped some misdemeanor charges against volunteers Mardini and Binder because of procedural errors, including a failure to issue a translated indictment to the defendants. The statute of limitations for the remaining misdemeanor charges against the two will expire in February. Both defendants will still face trial for the remaining felony charges against them.
Outside the court, Binder told reporters that the dropping of the charges is only “to some extent [… a] less injustice”. Despite the fact that the prosecution has been preparing for the trial for four years, they were unable to produce a workable and translated indictment that is “not vague.” He commented on behalf of the defendants:
Muižnieks condemned the extent Greek authorities are willing to go in an attempt to further deter people from helping refugees and migrants. He further stressed that would not prohibit people from making perilous voyages.
This trial is one of many instances where European governments have attempted to sanction and restrict advocates and aid workers for refugees and migrants, raising concerns about how the criminal justice system could be misused by authorities to punish and deter human rights defenders.
The post Amnesty International urges Greece authorities to drop charges against migrant rescuers appeared first on JURIST - News.
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In 2018 Greek authorities charged Sarah Mardini, Seán Binder and 22 other search and rescue volunteers with various misdemeanor and felony offenses, including human smuggling and money laundering, stemming from their efforts to identify and aid migrant boats off the coast of the island of Lesbos.
The court dropped some misdemeanor charges against volunteers Mardini and Binder because of procedural errors, including a failure to issue a translated indictment to the defendants. The statute of limitations for the remaining misdemeanor charges against the two will expire in February. Both defendants will still face trial for the remaining felony charges against them.
Outside the court, Binder told reporters that the dropping of the charges is only “to some extent [… a] less injustice”. Despite the fact that the prosecution has been preparing for the trial for four years, they were unable to produce a workable and translated indictment that is “not vague.” He commented on behalf of the defendants:
Among the defendants, Mardini and Binder, in particular, were facing misdemeanor charges carrying a maximum sentence of 8 years, as well as felony charges that could possibly lead up to 25 years in prison.
Muižnieks condemned the extent Greek authorities are willing to go in an attempt to further deter people from helping refugees and migrants. He further stressed that would not prohibit people from making perilous voyages.
This trial is one of many instances where European governments have attempted to sanction and restrict advocates and aid workers for refugees and migrants, raising concerns about how the criminal justice system could be misused by authorities to punish and deter human rights defenders.
The post Amnesty International urges Greece authorities to drop charges against migrant rescuers appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.