Nick Beek
European correspondent
Kostas Kallergis
Senior European Producer
Greek Coast Guard
The immigrant boat sank with 650 people on board
A Greek naval court has indicted 17 coast guards for the disaster on the most deadly migrant ship in the Mediterranean for a decade.
Up to 650 people were afraid that early on June 14, 2023, when an overcrowded Adriana fishing boat sank near Piros off the Greek coast.
Survivors later told the BBC that the Greek coast guard overturned the boat in a failed attempt to tow it, and then silenced the witness.
“It took these accusations two years despite so many people witnessing what happened,” one of the Syrian men we called Ahmad said on Monday.
The captain of the CoastGuard ship was charged
Greek authorities have always denied claims against them.
Deputy prosecutors at the Piraeus Naval Court found that 17 members of the Greek Coast Guard should face criminal charges.
Among them is the captain of the LS-920, a Coast Guard vessel charged with “causing the shipwreck.”
This corresponds to the number of bodies recovered, but it is believed that a further 500 people owned, including all women and children who were under the deck.
The disaster occurred in international waters, but within a rescue zone in Greece.
The supreme Coast Guard faction of the time and the supervisor of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Piraeus were among four staff members accused of “putting others at risk.”
The captain of the LS-920 is charged with “dangerous interference in maritime transport” and “failure to provide assistance” to the migrant ship.
The crew of the ship is charged against “simple accomplice” in all acts allegedly committed by the captain.
Suspicion of Greek officials’ accounts
The Coast Guard ship was monitoring Adriana for 15 hours before it sinks.
An estimated 750 people boarded and departed from Libya for Italy. Only 104 are known to have survived.
We have been investigating since the day of disaster, and our series of findings have serious doubts about the event in the official version of the Greek language.
Within a week, they had received shipping data that challenged the claim that the migrant ship had no problems, so they didn’t need to be rescued.
A month later, the survivors told us that the Coast Guard had forced the boat to sink in disastrous efforts to tow it and then remain silent.
The lawsuit against nine Egyptians was dumped last year amid allegations that they had been scapegoated by Greek authorities.
Earlier this year, audio recordings appeared, further challenging the event in the official Greek version.
Syrian survivors feel “proven”
We first met Syrian refugees. Syrian refugees called Ahmad and Musab to protect their identity a month after the disaster.
They said each paid $4,500 (£3,480) for the boat location.
Ahmad’s younger brother was on board and did not survive.
Musaab explained to us the moment when the Greek coast guard sank the boat.
“They attached the rope from the left,” he said. “Everyone moved to the right of our boat to balance out the Greek boat quickly moved and flipped the boat over.
The man allegedly told survivors to “shut up” once on land at Kalamata Port, when the Coast Guard began talking about how Greek authorities caused the disaster.
“When people responded that the Greek coast guard was causing it, the person in charge of the question asked the interpreter to ask the interviewee to stop talking,” Ahmad said.
He said the officials cried out: “You survived death. Don’t stop talking about the incident. Don’t ask more questions about it.”
Today, Ahmad, who now lives in Germany, said he felt that he was proven by the charges brought in.
“I’m very pleased that they’re responsible for everything they ultimately committed, but nothing has been done yet until they see them in prison,” he said.
“To be honest, the Greek legal system is extremely unreliable.”
Legal team for victims welcomes fees
A joint legal team representing survivors and disaster victims said the decision to pursue lawsuits against the 17 Coast Guard is a major step towards justice being made.
In a statement, “Nearly two years after the shipwreck of Piros, the prosecution and referral to the main investigation of the Coast Guard’s 17 felony, including senior leaders, constitutes a substantial and self-evident development in the course of victim proof and justice implementation.”
The 17 men currently indicted are understood to be questioned by the deputy prosecutor of the Piraeus Naval Court in the coming weeks.
The court then decides whether to send them to full trial or dismiss the charges.
It is not immediately clear what punishment the Coast Guard will be able to receive if convicted.
Greece previously told the BBC its coast guard had full respect for human rights and rescued more than 250,000 people at sea in the past decade.
