OSLO: A Norwegian court has blocked the extradition of the founder of a human rights group helping migrants to Greece where he was wanted over human smuggling charges, his lawyer said Saturday.
Tommy Olsen, founder of the Aegean Boat Report, which helps migrants in distress in the Aegean Sea, was arrested on March 16 by Norwegian police following a European arrest warrant issued by Greece.
On the same day, a district court found that he could be extradited to Greece, but the ruling was challenged. Olsen was released on March 20, pending the appeal.
The Norwegian Court of Appeal then overturned the district court’s decision.
Olsen’s lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, noted that the court had found that “the acts described in the Greek indictment are not punishable under Norwegian law.”
It also found that “the conduct of the Greek authorities entails a real risk of violating Olsen’s right to freedom of expression,” Risnes told AFP in an email.
The Aegean Boat Report said in a post on its website that “this is not only an important personal victory for Tommy Olsen.”
“It is also an important decision for journalists, human rights defenders, humanitarian workers, and everyone documenting abuses at Europe’s borders,” the group said.
Other rights groups, including Amnesty International, had called on Norway not to extradite Olsen.
Earlier in May, the Aegean Boat Report accused the Greek coast guard of endangering a migrant boat that came into distress in the Aegean Sea.
One person died and 43 were rescued from the vessel by Turkiye’s coast guard.
The Norwegian NGO said it had received an emergency call from people on the inflatable who said they had been “violently pushed back” by the Greek coast guard.
The NGO documents illegal pushbacks blamed on the Greek coast guard — allegations that Greece denies.
Over 1,200 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
