Athens, Greece – Four Afghan refugees convicted of starting a fire that burned a sprawling Greek refugee camp to the ground are awaiting a court decision on their appeal.
All residents of Moriah at the time, the defendants are now 18, 20, 20 and 23 years of age. They were officially charged in June 2021 with a fire that destroyed a camp on the island of Lesbos in a trial their lawyers say was flawed. mistakes They have been held in two different prisons on Greek soil since 2020.
A decision is expected this week at the Court of Appeal on Lesvos.
Two other Afghans who were also accused of starting the fire were registered as juveniles at the time and, as a result, were tried separately. The young couple lost their appeal last year.
In June 2021, the four were found guilty of “arson with danger to human life” by a mixed jury in the Court of Chios and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The evidence presented was weak, according to their lawyers – the police had only one written witness statement.
The witness, another camp resident, confirmed the defendant’s identity through their “five-distinctive photographs,” the lawyers said.
“None of the other prosecution witnesses, be it police officers or firefighters, were able to identify the defendant, even though they were eyewitnesses to the fire,” said a statement from the legal center Lesvos, which is awaiting a decision on the appeal this week. represents them in 2021 at the time of their first trial.
Lesvos was one of the main points of entry for refugees into Europe during the 2015-16 “refugee crisis” years and many were taken to the Moria camp for processing upon arrival.
When the infamous site burned down in September 2020, it made headlines around the world, already described as “hell on earth” by aid groups.
It was known for its rough and crowded conditions. At its peak, the camp hosted around 20,000 people in a space originally designed for around 3,000. Residents took shelter in tents and overflow areas around the main camp.
The fire, which broke out at the end of September 8 four years ago, quickly spread to the olive groves on the hill on which the camp was built.
Thanasis Voulgarakis, a human rights activist on Lesbos, arrived at the camp the night it was burned down.
“Everything was on fire, it was literally fire everywhere,” he said. “It was like that all night and people were trying to help other people to get out, containers and plastic from the tents were burning all night and it was just a panic but at least no one was hurt, it was a miracle.” .
The fire was still burning the next morning. Black smoke billowed from the camp, which turned into piles of scrap metal and plastic. The flames left behind charred containers and tents, and many roads were still littered with people’s belongings, which had to be abandoned to escape the blaze. The days that followed the fire were scenes of chaos as thousands of homeless people were left on the streets of Lesbos while authorities set up a new “temporary” camp on a nearby site that is still in use.
Activists and rights groups criticized European migration policies for such large numbers of people.
At that time, the Greek migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, said that “the Moria arsonists have been detained.” [and] Everyone’s safety is guaranteed”, although no trials had yet taken place.
Lawyers representing the four said the final trial “ignored basic procedure and basic safety measures”.
They noted that the only witness did not appear in the court, so the cross-examination could not be conducted. Their witnesses alleged that the accused set fire to a specific area of Maurya camp on a particular day. Their lawyers say, however, according to the local fire service, this part of the camp did not burn on that particular day. Attorneys have alleged a litany of other issues in the 2021 lawsuit, including “inaccurate or incomplete interpretations.”
Forensic Architecture and Forensics, the investigative agencies that the defendants’ lawyers hired to investigate the case, released an analysis in 2023 after examining hundreds of videos, photographs, testimonies and official reports in the Morea fire to reconstruct the events of the night.
They pointed out that there have been many fires over the years, especially in September, when “the land is dry in this Mediterranean region”.
“Dry conditions, coupled with caution and density as a result of policies implemented by Greek and EU authorities, lead to a sharp increase in large fires every year around this time,” they said. “Our analysis reveals significant inconsistencies in the testimony of key witnesses and casts further doubt on the evidence on which the young asylum seeker’s decision was based.”
Vicky Agledo, one of the lawyers of the legal center Lesvos, said that in the 2021 trial, journalists and legal observers were prevented from entering the court under the pretext of the COVID-19 restrictions.
“If journalists and the public had not been barred from entering the courtroom during the first trial, they would have witnessed the ridiculous show trial that resulted in the conviction of four of the Moriah 6, without any credible evidence,” He told Al Jazeera. “We have been waiting for almost three and a half years for a proper and fair trial, in which the defense arguments and evidence will be considered by the court, during which four people remained in jail. While the courts may prefer to sweep this case under Moria’s ashes, we will not stop fighting for Moria 6’s freedom.
“It is Greek and European migration policies that should be put to the test, not these six young Afghans.”