On 8 May 2025, two separate trials were scheduled in Mytilene for LCL’s clients D.K. and I.I. at the Three Members Appeals Court for Felonies of the Northern Aegean.
The political context in which these cases take place are important to consider. Both D.K. and I.I., were arrested in late July 2023, in two separate incidents shortly after the massacre off the coast of Pylos, a state crime in which over 600 people drowned after the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) attempted to tow their overcrowded boat. In a rare moment when the HCG was under heightened public scrutiny in the summer of 2023, it carried out a series of search and rescue operations in the Aegean sea that were prominently displayed in the Greek press, including publications of videos shot by the HCG themselves (contrarily, in the Pylos shipwreck, the HCG claims that its cameras were not working). Following most of these HCG rescue operations, several ‘survivors’ found themselves accused of both smuggling and causing shipwrecks, even if no shipwreck had even occurred.
This was the case in last week’s trials. In both cases, the two LCL clients and their co-defendants were accused of causing shipwrecks, when there had been no shipwreck.
In the case of I.I., the court postponed the trial for nearly a year, to February 2026, because the Coast Guard witnesses failed to show up, despite being summoned. As often is the case when migrants are criminalised for crossing borders, the only “evidence” against I.I. was the testimony of the coast guard officers who apprehended him. In a context where the Greek coast guard is regularly attacking migrant boats at sea while carrying out a systematic pushback policy, there are plenty of reasons to question the credibility of such testimony. However, the Court found their presence necessary to proceed with the trial. This was an arbitrary decision of the court, as recently in the case of A.H., the same court decided to proceed to trial even when the coast guard witnesses against him failed to appear, and A.H. was subsequently acquitted. I.I. has already had to wait for nearly two years in limbo awaiting resolution of his case, as he could face prolonged imprisonment if convicted. The postponement of his case, though the fault only of the coast guard officers, creates further uncertainty and hardship. Postponements are unfortunately quite common in Greece, and recently LCL client, A.B. was acquitted after waiting over five years to go to trial.
In the case of D.K., he was tried along with five other co-defendants, amongst them three others who were also supported by the Captain Support Network and present in court, and two others who did not appear. During the trial, it became evident that there had been no shipwreck, and the prosecutor requested (and the judges accepted) to change the charge from “causing a shipwreck” to “attempt to cause a shipwreck.” Of the four defendants present in court, the judges acquitted three of all charges, including D.K., as there was no evidence against them. Unfortunately, the three other defendants were convicted; all three for attempting to cause a shipwreck, and one also convicted for facilitation of unauthorised entry (smuggling).
Notably, during the ruling, it appeared that the judge announcing the verdict confused the four present defendants and first announced the conviction of LCL client D.K., only realizing after the intervention of our lawyers that they had meant to convict another defendant. This seemingly innocent confusion is a significant indication of the causal way the lives of racialized people are destroyed in Greek courts. The judges handing out convictions are not even sure which of the four black men in front of them is the supposed ‘guilty’ one.
The two convicted for attempting to cause a shipwreck were sentenced to 5 and 8 years imprisonment, respectively, and the third, convicted for attempting to cause a shipwreck and smuggling, was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison and a fine of more than 200.000€. As in the case of I.I., the only “witnesses” against them were the coast guard witnesses.
Following the trial, LCL lawyer of D.K., Vasilis Psomos said,“We are pleased of the acquittal of our client but he should have never been prosecuted in the first place. Apart from that we should underline the fact that our client was never really recognized as a perpetrator of any crime, neither during the interrogation nor during the trial. He was randomly chosen by the Coast Guard as one of the accused.”
After the court, LCL client, D.K., mostly felt relief. His innocence was never in doubt, and he is glad that the prosecution against him is finally over.
While we are also relieved that three people have been acquitted, the verdict remains bittersweet. Three others, arrested solely for crossing into Europe through the only route available to them due to Europe’s discriminatory migration policies, now face years in prison, and I.I. faces another year of uncertainty. These trials are not isolated: they reflect Greece’s systematic weaponization of the judiciary against migrants. We will keep fighting until everyone is free.