ATHENS: A year after one of the Mediterranean’s worst migrant shipwrecks killed more than 600 people, lawyers for survivors pursuing a criminal case against the Greek coast guard gave fresh details on the case Thursday.
The rusty and overloaded trawler Adriana sank on the night of June 13-14 last year. It was carrying more than 750 people, according to the United Nations, but only 82 bodies were found.
Lawyers representing dozens of survivors held a news conference after a court in Kalamata last month dropped charges against nine Egyptian men accused of being part of the criminal gang operating the trawler.
Among the 104 survivors, 53 have filed a group criminal complaint, alleging the coast guard took hours to mount a response despite warnings from EU border agency Frontex and the NGO Alarm Phone.
“This was a crime committed over a 15-hour period,” Eleni Spathana, a lawyer with the Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) group, told journalists.
The case is still under preliminary investigation by the naval court of Piraeus, but the survivors’ lawyers say they have found many irregularities in the Greek coast guard’s actions before and after the incident.
The boat was sailing from Tobruk, Libya to Italy. In addition to Syrians and Palestinians, it was carrying nearly 350 Pakistanis, according to the Pakistani government.
Survivors said the coast guard was towing the vessel when it capsized and sank 47 nautical miles off the coast of Pylos.
The coast guard has insisted it communicated with people on board who “refused any help,” rendering any rescue operation in high seas risky.
But on Thursday Maria Papamina, legal coordinator for the Greek Council for Refugees, said the coast guard chose to dispatch a patrol boat from Crete — and not a larger rescue tugboat stationed closer by at the Peloponnese port of Gythio.
The patrol boat’s voyage data recorder was damaged and was only repaired two months after the accident, Papamina added. Nor was there any video footage from the patrol boat.
“There are reasonable concerns of an attempted cover-up,” she said.
Spathana of the RSA added: “There was clearly no intent to rescue before the boat sank. Not only is this terrifying, it is criminally liable.”
Eighteen of the victims remain unburied, including eight still to be identified.
The independent Greek ombudsman’s office has launched a disciplinary investigation into the case, after the coast guard saw no grounds to do so, the lawyers said Thursday.
On Friday, victims’ relatives in Pakistan plan to gather in the city of Lala Musa to protest the lack of response from the Greek authorities to the tragedy, organizers in Athens said.
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Migrant shipwreck victims pursue case against Greek coast guard
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Migrant shipwreck victims pursue case against Greek coast guard
- 53 have filed a group criminal complaint, alleging the coast guard took hours to mount a response despite warnings from EU border agency Frontex and the NGO Alarm Phone
- The case is still under preliminary investigation by the naval court of Piraeus
Iceland joins Eurovision boycott over Israel’s participation
- Decision follows similar moves by Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia over the Gaza war
- Iceland’s national broadcaster says it pulled out 'given the public debate' in the country
LONDON: Iceland’s national broadcaster said Wednesday it will boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest because of discord over Israel’s participation, joining four other countries in a walkout of the pan-continental music competition.
Broadcasters in Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia told contest organizer the European Broadcasting Union last week that they will not take part in the contest in Vienna in May after organizers declined to expel Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The board of Iceland’s RÚV met Wednesday to make a decision.
At its conclusion the broadcaster said in a statement that “given the public debate in this country ... it is clear that neither joy nor peace will prevail regarding the participation of RÚV in Eurovision. It is therefore the conclusion of RÚV to notify the EBU today that RÚV will not take part in Eurovision next year.”
“The Song Contest and Eurovision have always had the aim of uniting the Icelandic nation but it is now clear that this aim cannot be achieved and it is on these program-related grounds that this decision is taken,” the broadcaster said.
Last week the general assembly of the EBU — a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs Eurovision — met to discuss concerns about Israel’s participation. Members voted to adopt tougher contest voting rules in response to allegations that Israel manipulated the vote in favor of its competitor, but took no action to exclude any broadcaster from the competition.
The pullouts include some big names in the Eurovision world. Spain is one of the “Big Five” large-market countries that contribute the most to the contest. Ireland has won seven times, a record it shares with Sweden.
Iceland, a volcanic North Atlantic island nation with a population of 360,000, has never won but has the highest per capita viewing audience of any country.
The walkouts cast a cloud over the future of what’s meant to be a feel-good cultural party marked by friendly rivalry and disco beats, dealing a blow to fans, broadcasters and the contest’s finances.
The contest, which turns 70 in 2026, strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years, stirring protests outside the venues and forcing organizers to clamp down on political flag-waving.
Opponents of Israel’s participation cite the war in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and whose detailed records are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
Israel’s government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the attack by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023. The militants killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in the attack and took 251 hostage.
A number of experts, including those commissioned by a UN body, have said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide, a claim Israel has vigorously denied.
Wednesday marked the final day for national broadcasters to announce whether they planned to participate. More than two dozen countries have confirmed they will attend the contest in Vienna, and the EBU says a final list of competing nations will be published before Christmas.
Broadcasters in Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia told contest organizer the European Broadcasting Union last week that they will not take part in the contest in Vienna in May after organizers declined to expel Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The board of Iceland’s RÚV met Wednesday to make a decision.
At its conclusion the broadcaster said in a statement that “given the public debate in this country ... it is clear that neither joy nor peace will prevail regarding the participation of RÚV in Eurovision. It is therefore the conclusion of RÚV to notify the EBU today that RÚV will not take part in Eurovision next year.”
“The Song Contest and Eurovision have always had the aim of uniting the Icelandic nation but it is now clear that this aim cannot be achieved and it is on these program-related grounds that this decision is taken,” the broadcaster said.
Last week the general assembly of the EBU — a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs Eurovision — met to discuss concerns about Israel’s participation. Members voted to adopt tougher contest voting rules in response to allegations that Israel manipulated the vote in favor of its competitor, but took no action to exclude any broadcaster from the competition.
The pullouts include some big names in the Eurovision world. Spain is one of the “Big Five” large-market countries that contribute the most to the contest. Ireland has won seven times, a record it shares with Sweden.
Iceland, a volcanic North Atlantic island nation with a population of 360,000, has never won but has the highest per capita viewing audience of any country.
The walkouts cast a cloud over the future of what’s meant to be a feel-good cultural party marked by friendly rivalry and disco beats, dealing a blow to fans, broadcasters and the contest’s finances.
The contest, which turns 70 in 2026, strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years, stirring protests outside the venues and forcing organizers to clamp down on political flag-waving.
Opponents of Israel’s participation cite the war in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and whose detailed records are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
Israel’s government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the attack by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023. The militants killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in the attack and took 251 hostage.
A number of experts, including those commissioned by a UN body, have said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide, a claim Israel has vigorously denied.
Wednesday marked the final day for national broadcasters to announce whether they planned to participate. More than two dozen countries have confirmed they will attend the contest in Vienna, and the EBU says a final list of competing nations will be published before Christmas.
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