Volunteer could face 20 years in prison after rescuing migrants at sea in Greece ⚫ Seán Binder, one of the volunteers on trial, told theipaper the charges will act as a ‘chilling effect’ on other migrant search and rescue efforts ✒️ JessieWill5
Mr Binder outside court in Lesbos, where he is on trial on charges including smuggling, forgery and espionage They were arrested in August 2018 and spent more than 100 days in prison before being released on bail. Mr Binder described his experience in prison as “horrendous”, but that he was mostly frustrated at the “hypocrisy” of the EU and Greek authorities.
“We have a right to a fair trial in a timely manner. All of those rules and laws have not been applied in our case.” . A group of European Parliament members have signed a letter calling on the government in Athens to drop the case. The vast majority of the time, Mr Binder said, he was doing very little. He stood on the shoreline offering new arrivals bottles of water, first aid materials “and a smile”.“They know that we’re not guilty. That’s why they’re dragging it out. It’s painful. It acts as a chilling effect on other search and rescue [efforts], and it’s absolutely bloody ruined our lives.”