Ahead of the trial of human rights defenders Tommy Olsen and Panayote Dimitras on 6 October in Rhodes on charges relating to their work in support of refugees and migrants Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Europe said:
“The criminal charges against Panayote Dimitras and Tommy Olsen are a gross misuse of anti-smuggling legislation and are not backed by evidence. Both are being targeted for their work documenting serious human rights violations against migrants and refugees.
“The Greek authorities have a long-standing record of going after human rights defenders and criminalizing human rights work, but this is a new low. For the first time, human rights workers are being referred to trial for helping people access asylum procedures. Construing this as ‘smuggling’ is not only a distortion of international and domestic law but a dangerous vilification of NGOs’ valuable work.”
In July 2021, Dimitras and Olsen were supporting people seeking asylum on the island of Kos including helping them to access the asylum procedure. They also documented and reported cases of pushbacks by the Greek authorities – the illegal and often violent practice of summarily returning people across borders, a practice that Greece has been found guilty of by the European Court of Human Rights.
The authorities accuse Dimitras and Olsen of establishing and participating in a criminal organization and jointly facilitating the “unlawful entry” and “unlawful stay” of third country nationals in Greece. Based on information available to Amnesty International, there is no indication that Dimitras’ and Olsen’s work went beyond the legitimate activities of assisting people in legally exercising their human rights and documenting the situation.
If convicted they face up to 20 years in prison.
Tommy Olsen said: “When human rights defenders face criminal prosecution for documenting what happens at Europe’s borders, while pushbacks and other serious human r
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