Greece: NGO workers could face 25 years in prison for helping migrants

When Sean Binder and Sarah Mardini were arrested and put in prison on the Greek island of Lesbos in February 2018, the police report referred to them as “No. 7” and “No. 8.”

“I am actually not sure if I am seven or eight, but it was me and Sara in the police station that day, so I am definitely one of them,” says 27-year-old Binder, an Irish national. Uncertainty has been his constant companion over the past three years. He still doesn’t understand why he and Mardini are facing serious criminal charges such as people smuggling, membership of a criminal organization and espionage. As far as he is concerned, they just came to Lesbos to prevent people from drowning at sea.

At the time of their arrest, dozens of rubber dinghies were arriving on Greece’s third biggest island every day. These dinghies brought refugees from Turkey to the shores of the European Union, a place where they hoped their human rights would be respected.

For Sean Binder, helping people is not a heroic act, it’s simply common sense: “What would you do if you see somebody in the water and they are reaching a hand out to hold you. You would obviously put a hand out and pull them in. As soon as you have done so, you have committed the same crime as I have committed.”

“Just people who wanted to help other people”

Binder and Mardini were working for the NGO Emergency Response Center International (ERCI). Their coordinator at the time was Nassos Karakitsos from Athens, who had previously served in the Greek navy. 40-year-old Karakitsos values human life above all else and did not want to just stand by while people who were seeking international protection were at risk of drowning in the Aegean: “We are just people who wanted to help other people. And there were thousands like us in Lesbos, Samos and Chios,” he explains to DW.

Together with 21 other volunteers, Binder, Mardini and Karakitsos went on trial on November 18 in Lesbos charged with a number of crimes including human trafficking, money laundering, espionage and forgery. If convicted, they could be sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The defendants reject accusations that they acted outside the legal framework: “We had daily communication with the Coast Guard,” emphasizes Karakitsos. They used WhatsApp to keep each other informed, the same messenger service that the Greek authorities are now trying to use as evidence against them, claiming that they used encrypted messages to facilitate irregular immigration. “The Coast Guard called me many times to assist them in rescue missions, not just refugees, but also locals,” he adds. “We were cooperating on many levels.”

“Baseless” case against activists

Zacharias Kesses cannot hide his grin behind his face mask as he explains the trial in his office in Athens. Kesses, who is representing Sean Binder and Sarah Mardini, is absolutely certain that the prosecutor has no case against his clients. “The case is totally baseless, there is no legal basis, there is no evidence, there is nothing apart from police speculation on the case,” he says emphatically, going on to explain how the authorities singled out certain individuals from a WhatsApp-group that included 446 people and organizations – including the UNHCR – in order to coordinate the rescue mission.

It is alleged that his clients knew about incoming boats and did not inform the authorities. But Kesses is adamant that these allegations are entirely fabricated. He says that the information about incoming boats came from open sources and was available to everybody. “These people were not receiving secret information that they were hiding from the police. We have submitted solid evidence that the NGO ERCI, which Sean, Sara and Nassos worked for, was in direct cooperation with the port police. Each time they had information, they informed the port police, in order to unite the forces.”

Legal limbo for three years

For Kesses, the accusations against his clients constitute judicial harassment. Moreover, because the investigation is still ongoing, his clients have been left in a legal limbo for three years: “Since December 2018, nothing has been done. The case is in a file somewhere in the office of the investigator. Each year, the investigator has been replaced. Nobody is willing to take on this big case.” The Greek judicial system has a reputation for being slow, but this time it’s different: “This doesn’t usually happen in such high-profile cases. We are speaking here about human trafficking – the heaviest felony in Greece, even heavier than drug trafficking or rape.”

Zacharias Kesses is convinced that his clients will walk free: “I am sure that all of these cases are going to be acquitted. But there is a big gap, and within this gap, judicial harassment finds space to unfold. I trust the system in Greece, but in the meantime, the damage is done.”

Tremendous personal cost

The uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the case has been a source of great distress for the defendants. For Sean Binder, a law student, it is hard to sum up the impact it has had on their lives over the past three years: “The weight that we face, the tremendous personal cost, financial cost, professional cost, psychological cost of being in limbo for this long and having these charges over our heads, it’s been huge.” In view of all this, Binder is considering taking legal action against the state of Greece: “No matter how you look at this, every aspect of this prosecution is so deeply flawed and so ridiculous, it is an abuse of our human rights.”

Nassos Karakitsos has trouble sleeping and concentrating: “It’s like being ill and waiting to die,” he says. Karakitsos is studying for a BA in European Culture. If all goes well, he hopes to graduate next year. The idea of the European Union – equality and human rights for everybody – is perfect, he says. Yet the case made against himself, Binder and Mardini tells a very different story.

Sarah Mardini, a refugee from Syria, is now 26 years old and lives in Germany. Her name is on a list of unwanted individuals in Greece. She was deemed a threat to public safety and was barred from re-entering the country. She appealed to have the ban lifted so that she could attend the trial in person, but her appeal has been rejected by an administrative court in Athens.

Deterrence and discrimination

Human rights organizations are deeply concerned about what they see as a trend in Europe towards criminalizing institutions and individuals who are committed to the rights of asylum seekers and migrants. They say that cases like the one involving Binder, Mardini and Karakitsos are intended to spread fear among those who want to help refugees.

Giorgos Kosmopoulos of Amnesty International points out that humanitarian aid decreases with a loss of transparency: “It’s important to have eyes on the ground to tell us what is happening. And it’s clear, now in Lesbos there are fewer and fewer independent voices that are able to report from the humanitarian side.”