MYTILENE, Greece: A Greek court Thursday acquitted Syrian competitive swimmer and activist Sarah Mardini, whose rescue of her sister inspired a hit Netflix film, and 23 others of migrant trafficking.
The verdict came almost a month after the start of their trial at a court on Lesbos, ending a legal ordeal for the activists since 2018.
They had been charged in the Greek island with “forming a criminal organization” and “illegally facilitating the entry of third-country nationals into Greece.”
“All defendants are acquitted of the charges” because their aim was “not to commit criminal acts but to provide humanitarian aid,” presiding judge Vassilis Papathanassiou told the court.
Prosecutor Dimitris Smyrnis had earlier recommended their acquittal, emphasising that “no independent basis establishing the criminal liability of the defendants has been demonstrated.”
Mardini, a 30-year-old Syrian who sought refuge in Germany in 2015, was present at the court along with her Irish-German co-defendant Sean Binder, AFP said.
The 2022 Netflix film “The Swimmers” is inspired by the story of Mardini and her sister Yusra, who was one of 10 athletes who competed in the Rio Olympics for a Refugee Team.
Their family made the perilous journey across the Aegean Sea in 2015, and the sisters saved other people from drowning along the way.
This is the second time Greece has brought criminal charges against the volunteers.
In 2023, they were acquitted in another case involving offenses related to their humanitarian work, including “espionage.”
In 2018, Mardini was part of a group of volunteer activists with the NGO ERCI trying to help migrants reach the island of Lesbos from Turkiye.
She was arrested at the time and spent three months in prison in Greece.
