AFP
November 17, 2021
Two of the defendants, Syrian refugee Sarah Mardini and Irish national Sean Binder, already spent over three months in police custody and face five-year prison sentences over the incident, their lawyer Haris Petsikos told AFP.
But the pair - who were conditionally released in December 2018 and immediately left Greece - are also in line for a related felony investigation which will be tried separately.
Overall, 24 activists are on trial for their alleged affiliation with Emergency Response Centre International, a non-profit search-and-rescue group that operated on Lesbos and in Greek waters from 2016 to 2018.
Mardini, who now lives in Berlin, has a seven-year ban on returning to Greece and will not attend Thursday's trial.
She told HRW that she was "scared" to volunteer again.
"At least we’re out of detention now, but we want this to be over. You get so exhausted. This has been a dark three years," the Syrian refugee said.
Mardini traveled by boat from Turkey to Greece in 2015 as an asylum seeker from Syria.
When the engine failed, she and her younger sister helped save others on board by swimming and keeping the boat afloat until it reached Lesbos.
JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP
German-Irish volunteer Sean Binder and Syrian refugee Sarah Mardini, who was held in Greece on migrant smuggling charges, give a press conference in Berlin, Germany, on December 12, 2018.
Human Rights Watch said the activists provided 'life-saving aid to migrants and asylum seekers'
Two dozen humanitarian activists who helped migrants reach Greece three years ago face charges including espionage and criminal membership in a trial opening Thursday on Greece’s island of Lesbos.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) this week said the activists provided "life-saving aid to migrants and asylum seekers,” and accused Greek authorities of "criminalizing rescuers.”
Human Rights Watch said the activists provided 'life-saving aid to migrants and asylum seekers'
Two dozen humanitarian activists who helped migrants reach Greece three years ago face charges including espionage and criminal membership in a trial opening Thursday on Greece’s island of Lesbos.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) this week said the activists provided "life-saving aid to migrants and asylum seekers,” and accused Greek authorities of "criminalizing rescuers.”
Two of the defendants, Syrian refugee Sarah Mardini and Irish national Sean Binder, already spent over three months in police custody and face five-year prison sentences over the incident, their lawyer Haris Petsikos told AFP.
But the pair - who were conditionally released in December 2018 and immediately left Greece - are also in line for a related felony investigation which will be tried separately.
Overall, 24 activists are on trial for their alleged affiliation with Emergency Response Centre International, a non-profit search-and-rescue group that operated on Lesbos and in Greek waters from 2016 to 2018.
Mardini, who now lives in Berlin, has a seven-year ban on returning to Greece and will not attend Thursday's trial.
She told HRW that she was "scared" to volunteer again.
"At least we’re out of detention now, but we want this to be over. You get so exhausted. This has been a dark three years," the Syrian refugee said.
Mardini traveled by boat from Turkey to Greece in 2015 as an asylum seeker from Syria.
When the engine failed, she and her younger sister helped save others on board by swimming and keeping the boat afloat until it reached Lesbos.
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