The four migrants were cleared in complaints of fire in a crowded Moria refugee camp on Lesbos Island, Greece during the Covid pandemic.
The Mytilene Juvenile Court held that the defendant was not innocent, finding that his involvement in the September 2020 flame was not proven. They had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Much of Moria, Greece’s largest and heavily overcrowded refugee camp, was destroyed by flames, leaving around 13,000 people without shelter.
The fire broke out as tensions surged over the restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Six Afghan immigrants have been arrested in the aftermath of the fire. The two were quickly identified as minors and attempted to do so. The remaining four were initially classified as adults, each sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Chios court.
However, following the appeal, the court admitted that it was not proven that they had reached 18 at the time of the fire, and the case was moved to juvenile court.
On Saturday night, the court acquitted all four.
Zacharias Kesses, the lawyer for the three defendants, said the case was based solely on the words of a single witness and had no evidence of support.
“My young client was kept in prison for almost three and a half years in prison that was inappropriate for minors without sufficient evidence and without legitimate proceedings,” he said. “This case is a classic example of how criminal justice fails when fear, stereotypes and political convenience wins.”
Two other defendants, who were first recognized as minors, were previously sentenced to four years in prison, down from the first five years. They were then released.
Designed to accommodate up to 3,000 people, Moria Camp was dangerously overcrowded during the fire as it housed as 20,000 people inside and outside the facility. Many were housed in shelters and tents arranged between nearby olive groves.
The flames forced thousands of people, including families with children, to flee to the surrounding farmland, causing humanitarian emergencies on the island.
BBC’s Jan Mackenzie spent time talking to people at camp just six months ago, reflecting on her experience there
