Three Migrants Acquitted in Moria Refugee Camp Fire Case

Iruni Kalupahana, JadeTimes Staff

I. Kalupahana is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Europe

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Image Source: Alkis Konstantinidis

Three Afghan refugees were acquitted by a Greek court of minors of any offense that had to do with the flames that engulfed much of the Moria asylum camp on the island of Lesbos in 2020. Mytilene's court rejected previous convictions under which they had been sentenced to 10 years in prison. The court cited a lack of evidence to support their involvement in the fire.

The fire erupted in September 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with tensions over lockdown of lockdown measures in the crowded camp running hot. Moria, Greece's largest refugee camp at one time, was accommodating over 13,000 individuals then several more than its planned capacity of 3,000. Thousands of asylum seekers and migrants were left homeless by the fire, which caused a humanitarian crisis on the island.

Six Afghan immigrants were arrested following the incident. Two of them were instantly identified as minors and prosecuted in a juvenile court and received reduced sentences of four years. The other four were at first treated like adults and were convicted in a separate court. Subsequently, however, in appeal, three of the four were found by the appellate authority to have likely been minors during the crime and their case was shifted to the juvenile court.

The three defendants were later acquitted by the juvenile court. Their lawyer, Zacharias Kesses, said the charges had rested on the testimony of a single witness and there was no tangible evidence. "My young clients were held for almost three and a half years in prisons that are not child friendly, without sufficient evidence and without due process," Kesses said. He described the case as an illustration of the strength of justice to be influenced by fear, stereotypes, and political pressure.

The Moria camp had already been widely criticized as overcrowded and unsanitary. Most of its residents had been forced back into temporary huts and tents in surrounding olive groves when the fire took place. The fire forced families with young children onto surrounding farmland to find shelter, highlighting the need for better refugee accommodation and support structures in Europe.

The acquittal of the three migrants is a reminder again of legal and humanitarian issues with asylum seekers in Europe, especially those detainees for extended periods without unequivocal evidence or right to due legal processes.