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The Brexit Thread


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  • 2 weeks later...

 

 

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Along with Sara Mardini, four other individuals connected to ERCI were also arrested, including Panos Moraitis, founder and leader of ERCI; two Greek nationals working for the organization, Nassos Karakitsos and Mirella Alexou; and Binder. Several weeks passed before authorities officially released information about these arrests, although news of their detention did not escape family, friends and co-workers who, in turn, went on to inform the media.

 

And while Sara Mardini was immediately transferred to the women’s wing of a maximum-security prison on the outskirts of Athens, the others were relocated to a prison on Chios island. Early last week, all five were taken back to Lesbos and are going through preliminary hearings this week, wherein only supplementary accusations will be reviewed, according to Becker. These hearings do not, however, affect their detention. According to Greek law, they can still be held in detention for up to 18 months until their trial.

 

Police say Sara Mardini's arrest happened amid an operation to dismantle a "criminal network," which also involves several other members of ERCI, namely its founder, Moraitis, who turned himself over to authorities on Sept. 23, according to Becker. In their official press release, the police state that, among the charges of involvement in a criminal organization (ERCI), money laundering, violation of state secrets and espionage via the use of binoculars and wireless radio transmitters, Mardini and the four others aided systematically in the illegal movement of people from other countries (what is referred to in the police documents as “third countries”). 

 

“From their entire mode of operation it was determined that [the individuals] offered immediate assistance with organized networks for the illegal movement of migrants, as they acted with intent to aid the professional and habitual movement of a large number of citizens of third countries to the islands of the Northeastern Aegean (Lesvos and Samos) on at least eleven instances, between August 2016 and January 2018,” the police report says.


However, on many of the dates that Greek authorities claim Sara Mardini committed the crimes, she was not even in Greece but was either attending class in Berlin, sitting for exams, or otherwise engaged in public speaking elsewhere in Europe. The proof, Becker says, is readily available from Bard College Berlin and professors there as well as Sara Mardini herself.

 

Nevertheless, Sara Mardini is being held in detention until further notice, the report says, “to ensure that she will be present for interrogation or in court and undergo the enforcement of the decision.” And, furthermore, “because it is also judged that if the accused [Sarah Mardini] is let free, it is very likely that she will commit other crimes.” In a press release issued on Aug. 29, ERCI denied all charges against the organization and its members. And ERCI has suspended their operations indefinitely, according to its website. 

 

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It is not the first time Greek police have arrested or accused volunteers on Lesbos of people smuggling; however, charges in previous cases have not been as serious as those lodged against Sara Mardini and the others being detained. “The accusations are more about criminalizing humanitarian action. Sara wasn’t even here when these alleged crimes took place but as charges they are serious, perhaps the most serious any aid worker has ever faced,” Petsikos said in an interview with The Guardian. 

 

In 2016, two Danish and three Spanish volunteer rescuers from the groups Team Humanity and Proem Aid were arrested and charged with people smuggling. Over two years later, all five volunteers were acquitted of all charges. If Sara Mardini’s case goes to court, a similar outcome is hoped for, said Moraitis.

 

 

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56 minutes ago, FanboyOf91 said:
 

If anybody here needs money and has Irish relatives, you could probably make a small fortune in the smuggling business after Brexit.

 

:816:

 

In a very recent BBC Radio Ulster interview, a leading Tory minister who is a proclaimed "expert on Ireland" stated that English people are entitled to Republic of Ireland passports. Complete clowns.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/irish-passport-england-uk-andrew-bridgen-tory-mp-brexit-border-eu-a8587286.html

Edited by Corcaigh
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