ATHENS, May 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The trial of nine accused smugglers opened in Greece on Tuesday, nearly a year after a migrant trawler with hundreds on board sank off the country’s coast, in one of Europe’s deadliest shipwrecks.
The suspects “are scapegoats to cover up the responsibilities of the (Greek) coastguard,” defence lawyer Natasha Dailiani told a news conference.
“There must be a fair trial and a search for the real causes” of the disaster, she said.
The men aged 21 to 37, whose trial opens Tuesday, have been held for nearly a year following the sinking last June.
They were among the 104 survivors of a rusty and overcrowded trawler, the Adriana, that sank off the coast of Pylos, western Greece.
Eighty-two bodies were recovered but based on testimony from survivors and relatives, the ship was feared to have been carrying more than 750 people.
The suspects are accused of being part of a migrant smuggling group operating the trawler. Some were hospitalised after their rescue.
Survivors have said the Greek coastguard tied a rope to the Adriana and powered out to sea, causing it to capsize. Greek officials deny that account.
Survivors have also said Greek coastguard officials took away their mobile phones after the rescue.
The EU ombudsman’s office in February said, after its own investigation, that Greek coastguard recording equipment was switched off during the interaction with the Adriana.
EU ombudsman Emily O’Reilly noted that the Greek coastguard had decided against an internal investigation.
One defence lawyer, Efi Doussi, said Thursday that the charges contained “numerous contradictions.”
Protests were held in Athens on Monday and outside the court in the Peloponnese city of Kalamata on Tuesday.
Many survivors have filed a group lawsuit against Greek authorities alleging they failed to take appropriate action before the boat sank.
The tragedy occurred at a time when Greece, along with Italy, was tightening borders against migrant arrivals after large inflows in 2015-2016.
The European Union in December approved new rules on handling asylum seekers that aim to share hosting responsibilities across the 27-country bloc, and to speed up deportations of irregular migrants deemed ineligible to stay. — NNN-AGENCIES