Trial Of 24 Rescuers Who Helped Migrants In The Mediterranean Begins In Greece.

More than four years after they were detained for conducting migrant rescue missions off the coast of Greece, a group of 24 volunteers are now being tried on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Their situation was criticized as Europe's "biggest case of criminalization of solidarity" in a report by the European Parliament.

Sarah Mardini, a refugee and swimmer, is one of the offenders charged with a number of infractions. Her recent flight from Syria with her sister was shown in a recent motion picture.

The volunteers were first held for many months in 2018 on suspicion of engaging in human trafficking; however, the allegations brought against the group on Tuesday in Mytilini included espionage, unauthorized access to state communications, money laundering, and aiding criminal activities.

In 2018, police reported that the volunteers had assisted organized trafficking organizations directly while also gathering data on refugee movements from the Turkish shore to the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos.

Ms. Mardini was absent from the hearing because she is not allowed to return to Greece, but Seán Binder, a fellow defendant and an accomplished diver, told reporters that it was crucial to uphold the law: "We need to ensure that search and rescue is allowed, and we need to ensure that people have the right to apply for asylum."

Emergency Response Centre International, the group the two volunteers had joined, has since been dissolved. In 2015, Sarah Mardini and her sister Yusra assisted in saving passengers on the boat they were traveling on, according to a report from the European Parliament from 2021.

Following her participation in the Rio Olympics as a member of a refugee squad, Yusra Mardini's narrative was included in the Netflix movie The Swimmers in 2022.

Their escape occurred at the peak of the migrant and refugee flood into Greece, which led an agreement between the EU and Turkey to restrict the sea crossing. In recent years, claims that Greece had forcibly returned dinghies back to Turkey in the course of so-called pushbacks have also been refuted by Greece.

After being freed in 2018, Sarah Mardini stated that her detention had come as a shock because her organization had intended to provide migrants with medical care, water, and a blanket when they arrived in Greece.

Other members of the group include retired Dutchman Pieter Wittenberg and volunteer lifeguard Nasos Karakitsos, who told Amnesty International he would likely face 20–25 years in prison for merely watching from the beach.

Their trial occurs shortly after the story of Mohamed Abdi, a Somali immigrant who saved more than 30 lives before being sentenced to 142 years in prison for people smuggling. After a Turkish trafficker abandoned the migrant dinghy in 2020, Abdi claimed to have led the boat to land.

His sentence should be commuted, the Mytilini court determined on Monday, and he was to be released after serving his sentence.

A number of members of the European Parliament have signed a letter urging the Athens government to discontinue the Lesbos prosecution, while dozens of NGOs have condemned the trial.

Tuesday marked the start of the trial, which was adjourned until Friday.