Student risks 25 years behind bars for humanitarian work

The background for this story started three and a half years ago – back in August 2015. Sarah Mardini, today a college student majoring in social studies at Bard College in Berlin, was 20 years old when she and her sister Yusra fled Syria.

On their way across from the Turkish mainland to the Greek island Lesvos, the boat's engine stopped working. The two sisters jumped into the water trying to keep the boat afloat. It kept turning sideways due to the unfriendly sea, so for three hours the girls fought to keep the overcrowded boat from capsizing until the engine started running again. Their story was later depicted in Yusra’s autobiography Butterfly. Yusra later went on to compete in the Olympics, while Sarah decided to go back to Lesvos in order to work with a NGO called Emergency Response Centre International (ERCI).

– I think I went back because our story was known in Greece. Some refugees started talking about us, so I felt interested in going back to meet them, Sarah Mardini says.

She explains how she started working as a «search and rescue»-swimmer. This involves looking for and helping people out at sea and bringing them to safety. Mardini later moved on to working as an Arabic-English translator, and as a team coordinator.

Then all of a sudden, in August 2018, Mardini were among five ERCI volunteers who were arrested on a variety of charges. Charges were in total raised against around 30 volunteers. As a result the ERCI has suspended their operations indefinitely. Mardini and co-volunteer Seán Binder spent 107 days in a high security prison before they were released on bail on December 5th. They are currently awaiting trial and could face up to 25 years in prison.

Had a good relationship with Greek authorities

Mardini’s close friend Claudia Drost, who still works on Lesvos, was with Sarah when she was arrested.

– I was driving Sarah to the airport early in the morning. After checking in her luggage, we were surrounded by five Greek men in civilian clothing who asked if she was Sarah Mardini. Then they told us that she had to come to the police station. From that moment on, I knew this was bad. Very bad, says Claudia who admits that she still gets emotional when she talks about the incident.

Back in Berlin, Mardini is preparing to resume her studies in late January. Talking about the events in Greece, she explains that the arrest in August came out of the blue for her as well. Up until that point, they had maintained a good relation with the Greek authorities.

– Every time we came back to land we always called the coastguard. That is because if the coastguard did not arrive, the people would have stay on the shoreline.

The charges

Greek police published a long press release about the case shortly after the arrest of the volunteers. In it they laid out the complete list of charges raised against Mardini and her coworkers. These charges include forgery, smuggling, espionage, money laundering, and being part of a criminal organization.

– Such as an organization that deals with smuggling.

Mardini’s lawyer, Zacharias Kesses, categorically denies the charges brought against Mardini. In a detailed defence briefing. Kesses lays out the argument for a full acquittal of his clients.

– The prosecution against ERCI began right after fake military plates were found on the official ERCI car. After that all members of the ERCI were charged with forgery.

The fake plates that form the basis for the forgery claim, however, was behind the original ones.

– Nobody knows how and when [they] were planted there, but even the police does not connect them with any illegal activity, Kesses writes.

On several accounts in the defence strategy, Kesses lays out reasons why he thinks the charges not only lack evidence, but that they can also be proven wrong.

As for the espionage charges, the volunteers are accused of listening in on communication between authorities without permission. Kesses notes that all such sea communication channels were open, not confidential. All information regarding the flow of refugees was open on social media as well, and accessible toanyone, he adds.

According to Greek law, Kesses writes, smuggling charges only apply in cases where a defendant is involved in a willful action to deceive the authorities. He adds that NGOs working with search and rescue at sea are protected from smuggling charges under Greek law.

– In our case, all refugees were submitted to official control, he says.

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– Not based on true evidence

Kesses points out that Mardini and Binder were not even on the island in most of the instances in which the alleged crimes are supposed to have taken place.

He notes that there have been cases brought against NGOs before, but that Mardini’s case is very much a case like no other.

– It seems to be the first case where an entire organization is prosecuted systematically. The volunteers are blamed for their work.

Kesses continues.

– Although no illegal money was found during the investigations, the ERCI is charged with laundering money gained from smuggling via worldwide donations. That is really terrifying, as donations were treated by the Greek prosecutor as illegal money without any specific reason.

He explains that none of these accusations are based on true evidence.

– I fully expect and hope for an acquittal of the defendants, Kesses says.

Kesses does not want to speculate on what motives the Greek authorities may have for their actions, but says that in general, across Europe, there is a tendency among governments to treat NGOs with more suspicion than before.

Ominous development

Spokesperson Pål Nesse at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) says that he is worried about a criminalization of humanitarian work. He explains that he does not know enough about Mardini’s case to judge whether she or her colleagues broke any laws. However, as a general principle, the NRC values the work of people who try to save the lives of others.

– In my opinion, people ought to think twice before they prosecute individuals whose sole intent is to help others in need, and not to commit any criminal activities.

He suggests that even if there are cases where not all formalities were followed as they should have been, one should not penalize people as long as their intent was on saving others in peril.

– In certain areas, such as Lesvos, the authorities have been unable to handle the migration flows themselves, and they have been reliant on the work of NGOs, he says.

Pointing out recent cases in Italy where NGOs have faced or been threatened with legal proceedings, Nesse fears that a systematic prosecution of NGOs involved in humanitarian work could eventually harm their ability to do their job, and scare people away from participating in such work.

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Once a humanitarian, always a humanitarian

Even though the prosecution of NGOs may make humanitarian work more difficult, such cases do not appear to scare neither Mardini nor Drost. Although Mardini does admit that the latest developments may have scared some volunteers into wondering whether it is safe to do humanitarian work or not.

– It is scarier for most of the volunteers, because this case was not about me or Seán. It was about us, the humanitarians. And I think every volunteer is scared right now, wondering if they will be next.

Both Mardini and Drost are sure about one thing – they will keep on helping others. Drost is waiting to board a plane to Lesvos as we speak on the phone.

– My thoughts of being a volunteer on Lesvos have not changed. We as humanitarians are not doing anything illegal, we are assisting people in need, we are helping in times of injustice and advocating for humanity. If that is illegal, then we should all be arrested. We are not afraid, says Drost.

Asked if she would ever consider going back to Lesvos or to other places to help refugees, Mardini’s answer is clear.

–- Of course. I’ll continue to be a volunteer and a public speaking activist.

When Under Dusken tried to contact Greek authorities, we were referred to the abovementioned press release from the police.