Irishman Sean Binder has expressed hope today’s annulment of some of the charges against him in Greece is the beginning of the end of his legal battle.
The Kerry native is one of 24 human rights activists facing charges related to their efforts rescuing migrants in the waters around the Greek island of Lesbos.
The group was facing charges related to human trafficking, membership of a criminal organisation and espionage in a trial widely criticised by human rights groups.
Charges
Today the prosecution acknowledged serious flaws in the charges against the group and recommended they be annulled.
That came after it admitted that key documents had not been translated for the international defendants.
Some of the charges were also deemed too vague to prosecute.
The charges could still be re-entered; however, that is unlikely as they will soon fall outside the statute of limitations.
Separately, however, the group is still facing more serious felony charges, which do not face the same time pressures.
The prosecution has 15 years to bring those charges to trial and a future court date has yet to be set down.
Mixed feelings
Speaking to Newstalk after the hearing, Mr Binder said he has mixed feelings about today’s developments.
“All of this is, of course, great news because it means that we are not guilty of those crimes,” he said.
“But at the same time, it doesn’t really feel like justice because justice would have been a trial four years ago and it is somehow hollow now to not be found guilty or to have the misdemeanours thrown out, only because the prosecution failed to provide a translation in five years.”
He noted that if he is found guilty of any of the felony charges, he could still 12 years in jail.
“So, it is very much still the beginning but it’s not a bad start of this end hopefully, and I am so grateful for so much support,” he said.
Today’s court decision came hours after the UN human rights office called for all charges against aid workers to be dropped – noting that the case has had a chilling effect on humanitarian organisations in the region.
With reporting from Eamonn Torsney.
