As the appeal trial of Homayoun Sabetara approaches on 24 September, the Captain Support Network together with the undersigned organisations urgently call for his freedom and for an end to the systematic criminalisation of migrants under Greece’s broad anti-smuggling laws.

In his original trial in 2021, Homayoun, a migrant fleeing Iran, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in Greece for “facilitating illegal entry,” after driving across the border to reach Europe. His case is part of a systemic practice of prosecuting migrants as “smugglers” under Greece’s harsh anti-smuggling legislation. Based on the EU Facilitator’s Package, ‘smuggling’ in Greece can include anyone who is behind the wheel of a boat or in the drivers’ seat of a car crossing a border. Those convicted under this law face draconian, decades-long prison sentences, despite receiving no material benefit for their alleged ‘facilitation.’ Many of those convicted are asylum seekers themselves, acting out of necessity during dangerous journeys. 

This unjust criminalisation is compounded by the violence people on the move face at the hands of authorities at Greece’s borders. Migrants are often arrested and charged as smugglers following attempted pushback operations by the coast guard and police, and in many cases people are convicted based solely on the testimonies of the very officers involved in these attempted pushbacks. 

Needless to say, the criminalisation of migration is inextricably linked to the systemic attacks on migrants at the Greece-Turkey border and the EU-supported enforcement of its borders. This criminalisation will persist as long as discriminatory migration policies force people from the Global South to undertake dangerous journeys to enter Europe, only to be attacked and punished upon arrival. 

Since 2015, when the number of boats arriving from Turkey to Greece increased, thousands of people have faced smuggling charges, and people accused or convicted of smuggling make up the second-largest prison population in Greece.

In September 2024 alone, our network monitored and supported several smuggling trials in Greece, where people on the move were prosecuted under the same broad legislation used against Homayoun:

• On September 4, M.A. a young man from Egypt was on trial in Heraklion, Crete, with witnesses accusing him of having driven the boat from Libya towards Italy. In similar cases, Greek courts have imposed over 200 year prison sentences, due to the high number of passengers on these boats. His lawyer persuaded the court to set a new date for the trial for 10 October 2024, in order for the court to more thoroughly review the case and legal arguments presented. https://www.borderline-europe.de/unsere-arbeit/kreta-freispruch-f%C3%BCr-drei-m%C3%A4nner-die-wegen-ihrer-arabisch-sprachkenntnisse-als
• On September 6, after a five-hour trial in Chania, Crete, three Egyptian men, S.M., E.A., and B.A., were acquitted of smuggling charges. They each had faced the risk of 205-year prison sentences after being wrongfully accused. Greek authorities had singled them out as smugglers solely because their nationality differed from the rest of the passengers on the boat, and they spoke Arabic. Unlike many similar cases, the court provided sufficient interpretation, and two witnesses testified to their innocence, confirming they were passengers, not smugglers. In the trial the defendants also expressed that their aim was to reach Italy with no intention of entering Greece. Since Greek law requires that the accused intend to reach Greece for such charges to hold, the offense was not substantiated. Despite the prosecutor pushing for guilt, the judge ruled for acquittal, ending their year-long wrongful detention.
• On September 16, in Lesvos, A B., a young man from Iraq had his smuggling trial postponed for a third time, until 10 March 2025 – in this instance due to a lawyers’ strike. A.B. was charged with smuggling after arriving to Lesvos island by boat in March 2020. Despite video footage showing him as a passenger, not the driver, he continues to face criminal charges. In March 2025, A.B. will have waited more than five years since he arrived in Greece for his trial. Unfortunately, such delays are all too common in Greece, prolonging the injustice faced by criminalised migrants.[https://legalcentrelesvos.org/2023/05/03/on-08-may-2023-after-almost-3-years-of-waiting-the-smuggling-trial-of-a-b-is-scheduled-to-take-place-in-mytilene-lesvos/]
• On September 16, in Komotini, T.M., a young man who fled from Syria to Europe was on trial for smuggling. Similar to Homayoun, he drove a car carrying migrants after crossing the Evros river from Turkey to Greece. Although he was unfortunately convicted, he received a relatively low sentence of eight years, as the court took into account that he was a Syrian refugee fleeing persecution by the police in Syria. Nevertheless, it remains scandalous that people on the move, especially when they show solidarity with other people on the move, are criminalized.  
• On September 19, W.A., an 18 year old young man from Syria, whose face and body are severely scarred by bombs in the Syrian war, stood trial in Rhodes as the driver of the refugee boat from Turkey to Greece. Despite a rigorous defense by his lawyer, he was convicted, but sentenced to the minimum sentence of eight years for this “crime”. He will be allowed to apply for release after about two years of imprisonment. As with the young man from Syria, he never should have been charged or convicted, as he himself was traveling to Europe to seek asylum.

As human rights, solidarity, and grassroots organisations providing representation, supporting, and monitoring the trials of criminalised migrants, we know all too well that the prosecution of Homayoun is unfortunately not unique. The targeting of people on the move as smugglers has become a part of migration management in Greece and throughout Europe, and must be stopped. 

We call on the Greek authorities and the European Union to:

• Immediately overturn Homayoun’s conviction and release him from prison.
• Release all migrants imprisoned under Greece’s broad anti-smuggling laws.
• Reform Greece’s anti-smuggling laws and the EU Facilitator’s Package to prevent the prosecution of people on the move simply for crossing borders.
• End the criminalisation of migration across Europe by implementing non-discriminatory migration policies, so that people are no longer forced to undertake dangerous journeys to enter Europe.

Donate to our fund and provide legal assistance to criminalized people on the move.
Use our fundraising link: https://whydonate.com/en/fundraising/captain-support-fund- 

or donate direct to our bank account:

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Signed:

• Captain Support Network
• Borderline Europe
• Legal Centre Lesvos
• Human Rights Legal Project
• Aegean Migrant Solidarity
• #FreeHomayoun 
• Seebrücke Schweiz
• Alarm Phone Aegean