Greece’s supreme court chief prosecutor has instructed an appellate court in the Thrace province to review and possibly annul its decision to first downgrade charges – from felonies to misdemeanors – before subsequently convicting three men in the border Evros prefecture of “arresting” irregular migrants who had entered Greece from the nearby frontier with Turkey.
The trio detained migrants and then posted videos of their actions online to social media. The incident took place last year.
The Evros region is a sensitive border zone that marks Greece’s land border with Turkey in the Thrace region, which is a well-known point of entry into Greece for third country irregular migrants seeking to reach preferred destinations in central and western Europe. Most of the land frontier between Greece and Turkey is separated by the Evros (Maritsa) River, although a “bulge” of Turkish territory extends west of the Evros River, directly across from the Turkish city of Edirne (ancient and medieval Adrianople).
Locals had expressed their frustration with the situation and had repeatedly come into conflict with irregular migrants, accusing them of a series of crimes and even of starting wildfires in the region.
A Case of Vigilante Justice
The case that has caught the attention of the supreme court chief prosecutor involves three men that were brought to trial on charges of abducting 13 asylum seekers and migrants, locking them in a transport trailer and videotaping them while accusing them of arson, during the devastating fires in Evros last year.
The prison sentence handed down by the court of first instance was for a period of five years per defendant and an additional three months for the defendant who recorded the controversial video (for violation of personal data), according to reports at TO VIMA.
Afterwards, a three-justice court of appeals in Thrace, which has jurisdiction for Evros, downgraded the felony charge of abduction with a racial motivation to a misdemeanor charge of illegal detention (false imprisonment).
The court also converted the sentence to a monetary penalty of 10 euros per day, and acquitted the three men of a series of other misdemeanor charges, such as incitement to commit violence and illegal possession of weapons, among others, according to TO VIMA.
Last August, the deputy chief prosecutor of Greece’s supreme court, whose has oversight of court cases involving racism, human trafficking and mistreatment of foreign nationals, ordered the court of first instance adjudicating the case to pay special attention towards eliminating “any trace of the medieval phenomenon of self-justice that could defame our country internationally”.
