Council stands with human rights activists
Cork County Council will contact the Greek embassy in Ireland stating its solidarity with 2 human rights activists currently facing charges including human trafficking.
The council will join calls from across Europe, including those of 70 MEPs, for all charges against Seán Binder and Sarah Mardini to be dropped immediately by Greek authorities.
From 2017 to 2018, Mr Binder volunteered as a lifeguard with a humanitarian NGO on the Greek island of Lesbos assisting asylum seekers arriving in small boats from the nearby Turkish coast.
Mr Binder, who grew up in Kerry and whose mother now lives in Cork city, was arrested in Greece in 2018 along with Syrian activist Sarah Mardini, accused of espionage, aiding human trafficking, and belonging to a criminal organization. They were among a group of 24 volunteers and aid workers to be charged by the Greek government.
All 24 volunteers have spent the last 5 years awaiting court proceedings. In January of this year, a judge in their trial annulled the less serious, misdemeanour charges brought against them. However, the group continues to face other criminal charges, including human trafficking, that could involve 25 years in prison.
According to Green Party MEP Grace O’Sullivan, the charges are politically motivated and are intended to instil a climate of fear among those helping refugees. Over 70 MEPS have signed a letter, drafted by Ms O’Sullivan, indicating their support for Binder, and calling for the charges against him to be dropped.
The UN human rights office has also made this request and said the case had had a “chilling” effect on humanitarian organisations in the region.
Elizabeth Throssell from the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said: “Trials like this are deeply concerning because they criminalise life-saving work and set a dangerous precedent.”
Amnesty International has also called on the Greek authorities to drop the case against Seán Binder and the other volunteers, describing the charges as “baseless” and “farcical”, and stating that the volunteers were simply “helping refugees and migrants at risk of drowning at sea”.
Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting of Cork County Council, Green Party Cllr Liam Quaide called upon the Council to state its solidarity with Mr Binder and Ms Mardini and to add its voice to those demanding their charges are dropped.
Cllr Quaide said: “When Seán was released on bail in 2018 after spending 100 days in a Greek prison he said, with typical humility, ‘how can it be a crime to pull people who are drowning out of the water, how can it be a crime to help children be children and to provide medical facilities in a refugee camp? How can that be criminal, it's not. It's necessary. It’s important to say that helping people with basic medical care isn’t heroic because if you frame it as heroic then not helping becomes normalised. It isn't criminal but it’s not heroic’.”
The Cork County Council executive greed to send a letter on Cllr Quaide’s request to the Greek embassy in Ireland stating its solidarity to Mr Binder and Ms Mardini.