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Global News Through a Greek Lens
Global News Through a Greek Lens
An inquiry by the Greek Ombudsman into the June 2023 Pylos shipwreck that claimed the lives of over 500 migrants has revealed a “a series of serious and reprehensible omissions in the search and rescue duties on the part of senior officers of the Hellenic Coast Guard.”
On 14 June 2023, a fishing trawler carrying an estimated 750 migrants sank off the southern Greek coast. Among the 104 survivors were nine Egyptians who were arrested and accused of migrant smuggling, despite emerging evidence suggesting they were victims of a smuggling network.
A statement from the Ombudsman’s office said there were “clear indications of culpability” for eight senior officers of the coast guard under criminal law for their handling of the deadly incident.
“The actions and omissions of the implicated officers during the handling of the incident … constitute the offences of deadly exposure to danger, as well as exposure to endangering the life, health and physical integrity of those on board the Adriana fishing vessel,” the Ombudsman’s office said, adding that these actions are “punishable under article 306 of the Criminal Code.”
The statement said the Ombudsman decided to undertake its own inquiry into the deadly shipwreck following “the explicit refusal” of the coast guard to launch an internal disciplinary inquiry at its request.
The inquiry collected approximately 5,000 pages of evidence and produced a 148-page report on the shipwreck, analyzing the “events, acts and omissions of the Hellenic Coast Guard senior officers involved” with reference to the international legal framework.
About 10 officers were called to testify as suspects, including the commander.
The Ombudsman said “crucial evidence” was withheld from its investigation, particularly in relation to the allegations that the coast guard towed the stricken fishing vessel.
That evidence included “the data from the mobile phone of the captain of the Coast Guard vessel assigned to assist, which is in the possession of the Piraeus Maritime Court, and all the conversations of the captain with the Operations Centre of the Hellenic Coast Guard until the capsizing of the fishing vessel, for which the Coast Guard admitted that they were not recorded digitally, despite the provisions to the contrary.”
The Ombudsman added that the “Coast Guard informed the Authority that the recording material from the cameras of the Coast Guard vessel assigned to assist was not available as the cameras were out of order due to damage.”
The report has been submitted to the shipping minister so disciplinary measures can be taken, as well as prosecutors at Piraeus Maritime Court, “for its consideration of the relevant criminal offenses identified.”
Ombudsman Andreas Pottakis said that “the transparency of administrative action and the attribution of accountability, where they exist, for the fatal Pylos shipwreck is a constitutional precept, inextricably linked to the respect of the rule of law, as is the thorough investigation by the administration of any incident related to a violation of the right to life, health and physical integrity.”
He recalled the finding of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the Farmakonisi shipwreck of 2014 that the authorities “did not take, within the framework of their powers, the measures that could be considered, reasonably, capable of preventing the danger”.
According to the European Court, the primary issue in an inquiry of a search and rescue operation is whether the authorities’ efforts “focused sufficiently and appropriately on the lives” of the persons at risk.