KALAMATA: A Greek judge dismissed a case Tuesday against nine Egyptian men accused of causing a shipwreck that killed hundreds of migrants last year and sent shockwaves through the European Union’s border protection and asylum operations, after a prosecutor told the court Greece lacked jurisdiction.
The decision by Presiding Judge Eftichia Kontaratou came shortly after the trial opened in the southern Greek city of Kalamata, and was greeted with cheers and applause from supporters of the defendants at the courthouse.
More than 500 people are believed to have gone down with the overcrowded fishing trawler, which had been traveling from Libya to Italy. Only 104 people were rescued from the Adriana — all men, the vast majority from Syria, Pakistan and Egypt — and 82 bodies were recovered.
Prosecutors accused the defendants, most in their 20s, of being part of the trawler’s crew — something the defense denied — and therefore being responsible for the mistreatment of the passengers and the massively overcrowded conditions which authorities argued led to the boat capsizing and sinking on June 14 last year. The nine men faced up to life in prison had they been convicted of the multiple criminal charges against them, including people smuggling and causing a deadly shipwreck.
The judge’s ruling followed a recommendation by public prosecutor Ekaterini Tsironi for the case to be dismissed because the trawler sank outside Greek territorial waters.
“Clearly the shipwreck clearly occurred in international waters and … the jurisdiction of the Greek courts cannot be established,” she said. “I propose that they be declared innocent.”
The case had faced criticism from international human rights groups, who argued that the defendants’ right to a fair trial was compromised because they faced judgment while a separate Naval Court investigation into the sinking and the Greek coast guard’s actions is still under way.
Spyros Pantazis, one of the lawyers in the defense team, said the court had “delivered justice today.”
“This case needed a lot of work and a lot of effort. After such a long time, the whole defense team is really happy,” he said.
It was not immediately clear when the nine, who have been in pre-trial detention since being rescued last year, would be released. After the verdict was read, they were taken away to be processed.
Dalia Abdel-Magid, the aunt defendant Mohammed Emad Abdel-Magid, reacted emotionally to the news that her nephew had been acquitted.
“I’m so happy that I just want to hug him and take him with me,” she said. “I hope that everything gets better for him now.”
Earlier, a small group of protesters clashed with riot police outside the courthouse. There were no reports of serious injuries but two people were detained. Officers from the special police forces maintained order in the courtroom.
“Justice prevailed. These people stayed in jail for a year even though they were innocent, and this must not happen again,” said Stelios Kouloglou, a Greek member of the European Parliament. “There are 2,000 innocent people in Greek jails, accused of or convicted of smuggling. The vast majority are innocent.”
As the trial started, Kontaratou questioned all nine defendants through an interpreter. The accused said their intention had been to travel to Italy, not Greece, and several declared their innocence.
She acknowledged that on the ship there “were no Greeks on board, it was not under a Greek flag and all the documents refer to the (vessel being) 47 nautical miles away.”
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres last year described the shipwreck as “horrific.”
The sinking renewed pressure on European governments to protect the lives of migrants and asylum seekers trying to reach the continent, as the number of people traveling illegally across the Mediterranean continues to rise every year.
The indictments against the nine were based on testimonies from another nine survivors. Defense lawyers had argued the witness testimonies had been coerced, and that their clients had been paying passengers who were scapegoated by authorities eager to put the blame for the sinking on overcrowded conditions.
Several survivors have said the capsizing happened after the Greek coast guard attempted to tow the ship. The exact circumstances of the sinking remain unclear.
The European border protection agency Frontex says illegal border detections at EU frontiers increased for three consecutive years through 2023, reaching the highest level since the 2015-2016 migration crisis, driven largely by arrivals at the sea borders.