Image source, greek coast guard
- author, nick beake
- role, europe correspondent
- Reporter Kalamata, Southern Greece
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Nine Egyptian men are on trial in Greece for causing the worst migrant shipwreck in the Mediterranean in a decade, but the BBC could reveal key contradictions in the case against them.
The defendants could face life in prison if found guilty of human trafficking and causing the sinking of a fishing boat last June in which up to 600 people were believed to have drowned.
The indictment, obtained by the BBC, charges the defendants on evidence already denied by at least six survivors who said the coast guard pressured them to capsize their boat and trap the Egyptians. It is shown that.
Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said they had strong concerns about the integrity of Greece's investigation and evidence, and questioned whether the defendants would receive a fair trial.
The Greek coast guard has always denied causing the disaster, and authorities have rejected all allegations of wrongdoing or a cover-up.
Up to 500 people feared missing at sea
The nine Egyptian defendants, aged between 20 and 41, went on trial in the southern Greek coastal city of Kalamata on Tuesday.
The men were all aboard the fishing boat Adriana, which sank in international waters on June 14 last year, within Greece's designated rescue zone in one of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean Sea.
Eighty-two bodies were recovered, but the United Nations believes a further 500 people may have died, including 100 women and children in the hold.
The boat is estimated to have been carrying up to 750 migrants when it left the Libyan port of Tobruk almost a week ago.
The Greek coast guard had been tracking the ship for at least seven hours before the sinking, but later said the ship was safely sailing toward Italy at a “constant speed” and on a “constant course” and that there was no danger to passengers. They announced that they did not attempt a rescue because there was no such thing.
When the BBC brought our allegations to the Greek Prime Minister in November last year, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said they were investigating but the smugglers were to blame.
“Our Coast Guard has saved tens of thousands of people at sea, and we should be grateful for their work,” Mitsotakis said.
The situation of the boat at the center of the prosecution case
Greek prosecutors have accused nine Egyptians of causing the disaster by captaining an overcrowded ship that posed a clear danger to life, according to an indictment obtained by the BBC. ing.
“The fishing boat was old, poorly maintained and not suitable for transporting so many people, especially over such long distances and without life jackets,” the report said.
Prosecutors said each defendant took turns piloting the ship, and all were aware that severe overcrowding both on deck and in the holds was affecting stability.
Last summer, the Greek coast guard faced harsh criticism for not doing more to help the vessel, arguing that the migrant boat was safe and on its way to Italy and there was no need to rescue it.
But almost a year after the disaster, Greece's prosecution will be based on claims that directly contradict the coast guard's official narrative.
image source, greek coast guard
Egyptian defendant claims to have been framed
The indictment also states that nine Egyptian men were part of a smuggling ring that charged between $4,000 and $8,000 (£3,100 to £6,300) per passenger for each seat on the boat.
The prosecution's charges are based on interviews conducted by the Coast Guard itself with nine other survivors in the days after the accident.
No evidence from the other 95 survivors appears to have been presented to the court.
Two Syrian men who called Ahmad and Mousaab to protect their identities said the coast guard had instructed them to remain silent about other factors in the disaster and instead blame the nine men.
“They were imprisoned and falsely accused by the Greek authorities of trying to cover up their crimes,” Mousaab said.
In separate interviews in Athens, four other survivors said they believed the Egyptians were paying passengers like them and were framed.
However, other survivors are said to have said that they did suffer abuse from some of the defendants. The defendants are known as the “Pylos Nine” after the Greek town of Pylos, near the site of the shipwreck.
Charges against the Greek coast guard are not mentioned in the indictment.
Weeks after the accident, several survivors claimed that a last attempt by a Greek patrol boat to tow the migrant boat was in fact unsuccessful, causing it to capsize.
The allegation is not mentioned anywhere in the court's indictment, although the United Nations says it deserves an independent investigation.
Greece's Naval Court is investigating possible wrongdoing on the part of the coast guard, which has consistently denied all allegations.
Ahmad and Mousaab, whom we interviewed last year, claimed they were silenced and threatened by Greek authorities after they suggested that a patrol boat was the cause of the sinking.
“They attached the rope from the left side. Everyone moved to the right side of the boat to maintain balance,” Mousaab said. “The Greek ships moved rapidly and our boat overturned. They continued to drag it for a considerable distance.”
Cell phone evidence not examined
No footage from inside the Adriana, let alone the moment it sank, has ever been released to the public.
The Coast Guard said its own sophisticated cameras were not recording.
Some survivors said they occasionally took pictures on the ship, but the coast guard confiscated their cellphones shortly after the rescue.
The phones appeared to have since been lost, and were found about a month later in a bag aboard a Coast Guard vessel at the scene of the wreck.
The defense had asked for some mobile phones to be examined as they could provide useful evidence, but court documents seen by the BBC show that an investigating judge last year found that the migrant had fallen into the sea. It is shown that the court ruled that this was a futile exercise as a “self-evident result''. All their cell phones would have been irreparably damaged.
“Seawater has entered the seized mobile phones, making it impossible to extract any kind of digital data stored on them; [attempting to extract data] It's meaningless. ”
Greek military investigation underway
A separate admiralty tribunal investigation into the Coast Guard's potential liability began in the weeks after the disaster, but is still in its preliminary stages.
Human rights groups believe the case should be concluded before the Egyptian defendant's criminal trial.
Christos Dimopoulos, director of Amnesty International Greece, said: “Criminal courts will likely have incomplete information to assess the guilt of the defendant. Trials will be carried out on the basis of incomplete or questionable evidence. There are real risks.”
The Greek government has vowed to hold smugglers accountable and crack down on illegal immigration, saying justice will be served.
Judith Sunderland, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, said:
“Credibility and meaningful accountability for one of the worst shipwrecks in the Mediterranean must also include holding Greek authorities responsible.”
