Greece, the trial begins against the two rescuers Sean Binder and Sarah Mardini, protagonist of the film “The Swimmers”

ROME – Sean is a trained diver, Sarah a Syrian refugee who, together with her sister Yousra, a swimming champion, during the boat trip from the Turkish coast to the Greek coast, dived into the sea and dragged the damaged boat to save the others people. There is a film by Sally El Hosaini, on the Netflix platform, which reconstructs the whole story. Today, Sara and Sean are accused of human trafficking, money laundering and espionage in a trial that the European Parliament has called “the biggest criminalization of solidarity scandal”. For Human Rights Watch the charges have the sole objective of criminalizing solidarity. For Amnesty International this process reveals the intention of the Greek authorities: to do everything to discourage humanitarian assistance and migrants to seek safety on the coasts of the country, as is now the case in many European countries. Republic reached Sean by telephone, Sarah however did not make herself available for an interview.

What is your defensive strategy?

Our strategy is to tell the truth. We have done nothing wrong. I am accused of being a spy because I used Whatsapp and why the NGO Emergency Response International Center (ERCI) used radio channels accessible to anyone. I am accused of having facilitated illegal entry into Greece – so it is written in the police file – on at least twelve occasions: half of them I was not even in Greece. How could I smuggle someone in if I wasn’t even in the country?

What do you expect from the process?

We were anxious right away to go to trial to be able to say that what we did was right, legal and necessary. But the prosecution has postponed the first hearing from year to year. For example, in 2020 the Prosecutor’s Office brought the case to a court that was not competent to judge, so the hearing was postponed. I hope that today the process will finally begin, but I don’t have much faith.

Has Greece been left alone, in your opinion, in the management of migratory flows?

I think yes. And it is one of the explanations why the Greeks have hardened towards those who seek help and protection. The people of Lesbos won prizes for solidarity, they always showed strength and courage, but then they hardened towards the migrant people because they felt abandoned by Athens. The central government has imposed an iron blockade on the Aegean islands, Lesvos is left alone. Brussels has not given the necessary help. And this has complicated everything: policies led by a few have emerged, instead of the certainty of the law.

The Netflix movie The Swimmers Did it help you raise awareness of the case?

The film was very positive because it awakened some consciences and it was useful because it humanised the people who make the journey. The dominant narrative speaks of migrants as a faceless threat, people who come to take away our jobs. Obviously this is not the truth, because most people are fleeing wars. There are migrants like Sarah and her sister Yousra, ready for wonderful gestures such as swimming to drag a boat to lend a hand.

How is Sarah Mardini?

Sara has been labeled a threat to national security and has long been banned from entering Greece. And even now it is not certain that the prosecutor’s office will lift the ban on entry. You have decided not to appeal against this measure because it is tiring to always have to fight, even for your rights. Including that of being at one’s trial, as it should be.

What are the main inconsistencies of the charges against you?

These are procedural errors. The document calling us to trial is written in a language we don’t understand, a page is missing, we are marked with numbers and not with our names, so it is difficult to understand what the charges against each are. Today in the hearing our lawyers will have to underline all this and the judge will have to make a choice: to confirm that these are errors or to say that everything is fine. The latter case would be tantamount to saying that we have no right to a fair and just trial.

Is there justice in Europe with respect to migrants?

In Europe there is justice, in the words as in the content of the law, which protects asylum seekers. I am not asking the European Union to follow my utopian ideas, I am not making naive requests. I just wish the EU would follow its laws. Europe supports human rights, it preaches them all over the world, but as soon as it is necessary to apply them internally, it abandons those laws and those values. But I have hope: I’m not alone, I’m one of the many on trial for solidarity. When we talk about migration and security, however, we should all agree that no one should be left to drown at sea.

The repression against NGOs is also increasing in Italy. What do you think?

In fact, the criminalization of solidarity is not just a Greek phenomenon. At least fourteen EU countries have carried out over fifty trials with one hundred and eighty defendants in recent years: it is an enormous phenomenon. I think the real threat to the rule of law is being convicted of helping.