Greek court recently acquitted a group of four volunteers, including swimmer sarah mardini, of charges of espionage, illegal access to state communications, money laundering and assisting criminal activity. the un human rights office condemned the trial and called for the charges to be dropped, with the european parliament report describing it as the “largest case of criminalisation of solidarity”. amnesty international also called the charges “baseless”. the incident occurred in early 2021 in greece, where the four activists were being investigated for alleged human trafficking, money laundering and fraud.
Story of rescuing refugees across the sea from turkey to greece inspired the film the swimmers. the volunteers faced complaints from their lawyers about insufficient translation of prosecution documents. the court later admitted when acquitting the accused that there were complaints filed by the volunteers’ lawyers about insufficient translation of prosecution documents. the volunteers are still being investigated for alleged human trafficking, money laundering and fraud. if convicted, the activists could face up to twenty years in prison.
And her sister yusra had fled syria in 2015 as refugees. during the crossing of the aegean sea, their dinghy’s engine broke. the two sisters, along with two others who could swim, saved the lives of those on board by swimming alongside the dinghy. mr karakitsos expressed his anger and frustration, remarking that he and the other activists felt like “hostages”, and mr binder stated that he would have preferred it if the case had gone to trial, believing that justice would have been served in such an event. mardini had been barred from returning to greece and was in germany, where she was granted asylum. the volunteers were acquitted due to the lack of evidence presented in the trial and the complaints filed by their lawyers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64268707?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
