ALTERNATIVE LEGAL SUPPORT FOR CRIMINALISED PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
People on the move are often arrested and imprisoned for driving boats bringing people to Europe. They are accused of human smuggling, often without access to adequate legal assistance, information about their basic rights, or any form of support. The ‘Captain Support’ Network is a platform in solidarity with those accused of driving the boats to Europe, and to connect them to local support networks and lawyers. You can reach out for support by sending us a private message. Activists and volunteers will reply by providing helpful information and connecting people to lawyers and social support if needed.
What is Captain Support?
Over the past years, all over the EU and its externalised borders, thousands of people have been arrested and put on trial for exercising freedom of movement or for facilitating it. This process of criminalisation is the systematic result of racist laws and bordering practices, and it often affects the lives of criminalised people all over their lifetime.
❗️If you or a friend or a family member has been arrested on the charges of “facilitating illegal immigration”, contact the Captain Support network via Facebook and Instagram to ask for adequate legal assistance and support.
Campaigns
The criminalisation of people on the move is too often invisible, and their voices are silenced through detention and imprisonment. This invisibilisation and silencing allows the authorities of the EU and it’s Member States’ to further violate their rights and to exercise the worst violence on them, even after their release.
Free Pylos 9
Nine Egyptian survivors were arrested and charged with smuggling, aggravated by the deaths of passengers, causing a shipwreck, irregular entry, and forming and membership of a criminal organization.
Free El Hiblu 3
In Malta, three African teenagers stand accused of terrorism.
Free Homayoun
Homayoun Sabetara, a migrant fleeing Iran, was arrested by Greek authorities in Thessaloniki after having driven a vehicle across the Turkish-Greek border.
Decriminalize Facilitation
The Kinsa case marks a breakthrough in the fight against the criminalisation of the facilitation of freedom of movement.
As a group of activists based mostly in Europe, we stand in solidarity with all the people criminalised for facilitating freedom of movement, and towards all the people on the move.
Captain Support
Support Captain Support!
Donate to our fund and provide legal assistance to criminalized people on the move across the EU!
Use our fundraising link:
https://whydonate.com/en/fundraising/captain-support-fund-
or donate direct to our bank account:
Name: Support Captain Support
IBAN: CH62 0900 0000 1626 2806 6
Bank: PostFinance
Update and News
- Good news from Syros: justified acquittal for A.S.How good legal defense can make a difference On Monday 10th of March 2025, HRLP lawyers defended a Syrian asylum seeker facing up to 160 years in prison for the illegal transfer of 16 asylum seekers, before the Syros First Instance Court. Due to reasonable doubt for his guilt, the Court declared the defendant innocent.… Read more: Good news from Syros: justified acquittal for A.S.
- Lesbos: Sensational acquittal for A.H.On the 6th February 2025, in a remarkable decision, the Court of Mytilene has acquitted a client of the Legal Centre of Lesvos, A.H., of the charges of smuggling and causing a shipwreck. A.H., a Palestinian refugee from the Gaza Strip, was prosecuted for attempting to cross the EU border to seek asylum. The prosecution… Read more: Lesbos: Sensational acquittal for A.H.
- Crete: Teenager threatened with 4,670 years, was acquittedOn January 29, 2025, a teenager named M. Elfallah had to appear before the juvenile court in Crete to face charges of “facilating unauthorized entry” (smuggling). On November 21, 2022, at the age of 15, he boarded a large fishing vessel in Libya with his father and hundreds of people in an attempt to reach… Read more: Crete: Teenager threatened with 4,670 years, was acquitted