AYS Daily Digest 09/03/2021: Guilty verdict for two in Moria fire trial
By: Are You Syrious
Tags: Migration, Digest, Search And Rescue, Refugees, Moria

AYS Daily Digest 09/03/2021: Guilty verdict for two in Moria fire trial

Small fire in new Lesvos camp // People freed from detention in Libya // Shipwrecks off Tunisia // Evros border fence nears completion // Raids in Romanian city // Rescue in the Canaries // Extension of ban on food distro in Calais Are You Syrious? Follow Mar 10 · 13 min read

Avlona prison, north of Athens (Photo source: Protothema news)

FEATURE: Guilty verdict in Moria fire trial—and another fire

Monday night marked the six-month anniversary of the massive fire that engulfed Moria camp on Lesvos, when the camp was burnt nearly completely to the ground and almost 13,000 people were forced into homelessness overnight. We all know the situation hasn’t improved drastically since then. In those initial days after the fire, people were abandoned outside on the road to Mytilene for days, hemmed in by police blockades and angry community members who wanted them gone, and prevented from accessing food, water, hygiene services and proper shelter. Then, a new camp was built to host them, however, the camp infrastructure and services were woefully inadequate. And although thousands have been transferred off the island since September, they have only been met with homelessness on the mainland. There is no cause for celebration until everyone is able to leave Moria, and safe passage and legal pathways to asylum are established and enshrined.

In yesterday’s digest we wrote that a trial had begun in a court in Mytilene, the capital of Lesvos, against two of the six people (the so-called ‘Moria 6,’ all former camp residents) facing charges of arson “with danger to human life.” These two people were minors when they were arrested, aged only 17, and have been held in detention for the past six months, the maximum length of detention for a minor, according to Legal Centre Lesvos, who represented them in court.

The trial was closed to the public, as the men were minors at the time of the crime. There were also reports of a heavy police presence throughout the trial, as well as Covid-19 social distancing restrictions in place.

The verdict was swift. A mere six hours after the trial commenced, the three-member Juvenile Court of Mytilene delivered its verdict: guilty on the charge of arson, but not guilty on the charge of membership in a criminal group. The two 18-year-olds will spend five years in prison, including time served, most likely in Avlona prison for minors and young adults, north of Athens.

The defendants’ lawyers have appealed the ruling.

In a press release following the verdict, Legal Centre Lesvos raises serious concerns about the credibility of the evidence and eyewitness testimony presented in court against the defendants. One of their concerns is the inappropriate use of witnesses:

The only prosecution witness who identified or provided individualised evidence against the second defendant did not appear in court today. Nevertheless, the prosecution was permitted to read out his written declaration during the trial, despite the defendant’s lawyers’ objection that this violated the defendant’s right to cross examine any witness against him, a fundamental right of criminal defendants confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights.

Furthermore, the defense was only permitted to call one witness per defendant, even though more than ten people from the Hazara community (an Afghan ethnic group to which all six defendants belong) were present at court and willing to testify. “While, technically, the state is only obliged to allow one witness per defendant, it is clear that the law is used against migrants when convenient, and ignored when it is not,” the press release read.

The ruling was sobering, but the legal team pointed out that the men could have been sentenced to ten years on the arson charge, and faced 15 years had they also been convicted of membership in a criminal group.

Nevertheless, Legal Centre Lesvos strongly condemned the ruling:

The trial of these two members of the Moria 6 constitutes a gross miscarriage of justice. The tragic result of today’s trial appears to form part of a systematic effort to crush any resistance to Europe’s border regime through collective punishment, by arbitrarily arresting and pressing criminal charges against migrants following migrant-led resistance…

Messages of support also came from other watchdogs and activists:

Meanwhile, as the arson trial continued in the courtroom, another, much smaller fire broke out in the new camp yesterday morning.

It appears that only two tents belonging to four families were damaged in the blaze, and no one was injured. While that is certainly a tragedy for those four families, it is extremely lucky that the fire did not cause more destruction. Numerous small fires have broken out since the new camp was constructed, many of them due to electrical wiring problems. The camp was built hastily and evidently poorly, with little thought or respect for human life and decency.

Now those four families are back to square one.

For everyone in the camp, the psychological effects of yet another fire are severe. Many people, especially children, are reported to still be experiencing ongoing psychological stressors related to the destructive fire of six months ago. As long as the camp continues to experience electrical problems and fires break out, people will only sink deeper into psychological distress, which will largely remain unaddressed due to the lack of qualified mental health experts working in the camp. Children especially will carry these memories for the rest of their lives.