The Greek trial of 24 aid volunteers accused of people-smuggling got off to a shambolic [6] false start on Nov. 18. The defendants were members of Emergency Response Center International (ECRI [7]), an NGO that performed rescue activities in the Aegean Sea and provided humanitarian assistance to people in Moria refugee camp [8] on the Greek island of Lesvos [9] between 2016 and 2018. Human rights groups say the accusations are part of a broader trend [10] of governments across Europe criminalizing [11] people providing humanitarian assistance to asylum-seekers and migrants. They have called on Greece to drop the charges, describing the case as "absurd [12]."
The first trial hearing was halted [15] soon after it started due to an apparent lack of English translation for defendants. When the proceedings resumed, the court ruled [16] it did not have jurisdiction over the case—sending it to a higher court and delaying the start of the trial, likely by months.
From The New Humanitarian [17], Nov. 19
See our last report on Moria refugee camp [18]