Refugee workers face court in Greece

Human smuggling, espionage, money laundering, founding of a criminal organization: the Greek public prosecutor's office has raised serious allegations against a group of self-proclaimed refugee helpers. One of the defendants lives in Germany and received an award as a "silent heroine".

Lesbos -The Greek public prosecutor's office on Tuesday resumed the trial of 24 members of the self-proclaimed migrant aid organization "Emergency Response Center International". They are accused of people smuggling, espionage, money laundering and founding a criminal organization.

The Greek authorities believe that the organization systematically helped illegal immigrants enter Greek soil. The self-proclaimed refugee helpers illegally tapped the Greek coast guard radio channels and drove a jeep with a fake military license plate.

The accused face long prison terms
The most prominent defendant is 27-year-old Sarah Mardini. She grew up with her parents and her younger sister Yusra in Damascus, fleeing the Syrian civil war to Turkey in 2015. From there she wanted to continue to the Greek island of Lesbos. When the engine of their inflatable boat failed at sea, the two competitive swimmers Sarah and Yusra jumped overboard and pulled the boat with 18 passengers ashore.

The sisters now live in Berlin and received the Bambi prize in the “Silent Heroes” category in 2018, among other things. Their life stories were filmed by the Netflix streaming platform.

Sarah Mardini has been working in the so-called "refugee aid" since then, she was arrested at Lesbos Airport in August 2018 and taken into custody. Because the Greek judiciary had imposed an entry ban on them, only one lawyer will be present in court. If she is found guilty, the "refugee helper" could face a long prison sentence.

Source: Junge Freiheit