A Greek court has made a significant decision this week by dropping criminal charges against 35 international aid workers who were accused of espionage and facilitating the illegal entry of migrants into the country. The ruling, announced after a judicial council meeting on Lesbos, cited insufficient evidence to proceed with the case against the foreign nationals arrested in Greece in 2020.
The defendants, hailing from various countries including Germany, Norway, Austria, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Bulgaria, were accused of organizing a criminal enterprise and assisting smugglers in transporting migrants to Europe. However, they vehemently denied any wrongdoing. Zacharias Kesses, a lawyer representing some of the aid workers, hailed the court’s decision as “very encouraging,” emphasizing that humanitarian efforts should not be conflated with criminal activities.
Julia Winkler from Borderline Europe, while acknowledging the relief of dropped charges, expressed concerns over the authorities’ tendency to employ criminal investigations to suppress activism they find disagreeable. This sentiment underscores the ongoing debate surrounding the criminalization of humanitarian actions in border control activism.
The case against the aid workers stemmed from an investigation by the Greek intelligence service and an anti-terrorism unit, which utilized undercover agents posing as migrants to gather evidence. Allegations included the use of encrypted messages by aid workers to communicate with smugglers and the relay of information by volunteers from Alarm Phone, a hotline aiding migrants in distress at sea. However, a magistrate’s investigation concluded that the information collected was not of a confidential nature.
This decision follows similar outcomes in previous cases, including the dropping of espionage charges against 24 former volunteers on Lesbos in January, although they still face felony charges. Sean Binder, one of those arrested and jailed in Greece, welcomed the recent development but stressed that the case should never have been initiated.
In addition to aid workers, migrants and asylum seekers themselves have increasingly faced smuggling charges, often for transportation-related activities. Borderline Europe’s study revealed that as of February 2023, over 2,100 individuals were detained in Greek prisons on smuggling allegations. Concerns were raised over the quality of evidence and the fairness of trials, with judgments being issued based on limited or questionable evidence and sentences averaging 46 years for those convicted.