A Greek naval court has charged 17 coast guard officers over the shipwreck of an overloaded migrants boat near Pylos in 2023, where hundreds of people are believed to have drowned,
Although the Greek government had “acquitted” the coast guard officers, the Naval court accused them o serious crimes, in.gr reported on Friday.
The government had blamed only the victims.
Fishing boat Adriana had left Libya for Italy with some 750 people onboard. It sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos on June 14, 2023.
A coast guard vessel had been monitoring the boat Adriana for 15 hours before it capsized and sank. Only 104 of its passengers are known to have survived.
Greek coast guard authorities have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing over the handling of the case.
Almost two years after the loss of hundreds of lives in Pylos and while the Coast Guard refused to investigate the circumstances of the shipwreck, criminal prosecution was brought against those involved.
17 members of the Greek Coast Guard will soon appear before the Piraeus Maritime Court for the deadly shipwreck of the Adriana fishing vessel in Pylos, in June 2023.
Shortly before two years have passed since the incident, in which more than 650 refugees lost their lives, the Prosecutor of the Maritime Court initiated criminal proceedings and ordered a main investigation into the case, which particularly concerned domestic and international media, which criticized the government’s handling of the incident, insisting on blaming the victims and the port authorities for not investigating the incident.
In particular, the former Chief of the Coast Guard, George Alexandrakis, the captain and crew of the vessel PPLS 920 that was involved in the shipwreck of June 13-14, 2023, the supervisor of the Unified Search and Rescue Coordination Center (EKSED) and two other officers will be called to testify.
The charges
A prosecution was brought against Captain Miltiadis Zouridakis, who was the captain of the patrol boat 920, on charges of: a) causing a shipwreck that could have resulted in a danger to people and that resulted in the death of a large number of people, b) dangerous interference in ship traffic, in the form of disrupting ship traffic with equally dangerous acts for the safety of traffic that could have resulted in a danger to people and resulted in the death of others, c) failure to provide assistance by a ship captain.
According to the information gathered by the Prosecutor of the Maritime Court, the captain of the patrol boat 920, although he was near the refugee boat, did not order a search and rescue, until after it capsized and sank.
The crew members of the PPLS 920 are also facing charges of aiding and abetting a shipwreck resulting in the deaths of at least 82 people, aiding and abetting a dangerous disruption of shipping traffic with equally dangerous acts resulting in the deaths of at least 82 people, and exposing people to danger who had a legal obligation to rescue, yet left them helpless resulting in the deaths of at least 82 people.
The former head of the Coast Guard, as well as the EKSED executives who were on duty that night, will also be brought to the Naval Court with the same indictment.
However, with another provision, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Piraeus Naval Court acquitted the current Chief of the Coast Guard, Tryfonas Kontizas, and three other senior officers involved in the management of the fatal incident, as it ruled that they did not have jurisdiction during the critical period for the operation and action of the Unified Search and Rescue Coordination Center.
Lawyers for survivors and victims satisfied
In a statement issued by the lawyers representing the survivors and victims of the Pylos shipwreck, they stressed their satisfaction with the criminal prosecution and the order of a main investigation to investigate criminal acts, including causing a shipwreck as well as exposing lives to danger resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, which also concerns senior Coast Guard officials.
At the same time, as they emphasize, the victims and their relatives will submit an appeal before the Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal against the Prosecutor’s Order that places the case in the Archive regarding the four officers, requesting the exercise of criminal prosecution against those who participated in the management of the incident on behalf of the competent bodies of the Coast Guard – the responsibilities of which were also highlighted by the Ombudsman’s investigation findings -, including the current Chief of the Coast Guard.
According to in.gr , the naval court is still investigating the circumstances around the incident.
