NAFPLIO, Greece — A group of Egyptians imprisoned for nearly a year awaiting trial for a deadly shipwreck were freed from jail on Wednesday, a day after a Greek court dismissed the case against them on the grounds that it did not have jurisdiction to try him.
Nine Egyptians had been accused of being part of the crew of the Adriana, an overcrowded fishing boat that capsized and sank near Greece last June with about 700 people on board while sailing from Libya to Italy. Only 104 people survived (all men, mostly from Syria, Egypt and Pakistan) and 82 bodies were recovered.
The nine, who have been in preventive detention since their rescue last year, had been accused of being members of a migrant smuggling network and of having caused the shipwreck. They had faced several life sentences if convicted.
But a court in the southern Greek city of Kalamata ruled on Tuesday that it did not have jurisdiction to try the case, as the shipwreck occurred in international waters, none of those involved had attempted to enter Greece, the ship had no Greek flag and no citizens were on board.
The Egyptians’ defense team had argued that the nine were not crew members of the ill-fated fishing boat, but had been paying passengers who were mistakenly identified as crew by nine other survivors, and that authorities eager to put an end to all things were using them as scapegoats. The blame for the tragedy lies with the crew of the fishing boat.
Eight of the nine were released from a jail outside the southern city of Nafplio on Wednesday afternoon. They were taken to a city police station, where they would be detained overnight pending further proceedings. It was not immediately clear when they would be fully released from custody.
The ninth accused was to be released from another jail.
The huge loss of life in the sinking of the Adriana in the early hours of June 14, 2023 renewed pressure on European governments to protect the lives of migrants and asylum seekers trying to reach the continent. European border protection agency Frontex says illegal detections at EU borders increased for three consecutive years until 2023, reaching the highest level since the 2015-2016 migration crisis, largely driven by arrivals by sea.
The exact circumstances of how the Adriana sank are still unclear. The trawler was sailing in international waters but within Greece’s search and rescue operations area, and a coast guard patrol vessel and passing merchant ships were near the ship for several hours. Greek authorities have said the fishing boat’s crew repeatedly rejected offers of help, insisting that they wanted to continue to Italy.
Several survivors have said that the ship sank after the Greek coast guard attempted to tow it, an allegation that Greek authorities have vehemently denied. A Naval Court investigation into the sinking is still underway.
Speaking in court after the case was dismissed on Tuesday, Dimitris Choulis, one of the lawyers on the Egyptian nine’s defense team, said the focus should be on how the Adriana sank.
“The court today had to be very brave to issue this decision and say that these people are not the smugglers,” Choulis said.
The lawyer blamed the tragedy on the Greek coast guard and Europe’s migration policies, saying it was essential “to make sure something like this does not happen again.”
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