Hands off activist Tommy Olsen. The voice denouncing the crimes of states in the Aegean must not be silenced.

The New Democracy government's rush to prosecute Tommy Olsen, head of the Aegean Boat Report initiative, comes just days after the mass murder of 15 refugees near the coast of Chios and the serious injury of 22 others, including women and children, while two pregnant women miscarried. Survivors report that the Coast Guard vessel, within Greek territorial waters, not only failed to rescue the overloaded boat carrying 45 people, but ran over them, causing the disaster. Deterrence is now achieved by attacking and ramming refugee boats.

The mechanisms of persecution and cover-up work like clockwork, only the cameras never work at the scene of state crimes. In Chios, as in Pylos, they were not working!
The attack to cover up the crime in Chios led to the targeting of defense lawyers, such as Demitris Houlis, journalists such as Chris Avramidis, and culminated in the hasty activation of an international arrest warrant for activist Tommy Olsen.

This is part of the government's persecution campaign aimed at silencing those who monitor and denounce illegal pushbacks, particularly in the area of persecution and violations of refugee rights by the governments of Greece and Turkey, which are cooperating within the framework of the 2016 Turkey-EU Joint Statement.
This prosecution concerns the 2022 case file, in which Panagiotis Dimitras of the Greek Helsinki Monitor is also accused. The charges against Tommy Olsen are completely unfounded, with references to communications with refugees in danger, which he himself made public.

There are cases with similar baseless charges that have been dismissed or the defendants acquitted. One such case of targeting solidarity was the prosecution of Dutch journalist Ingeborg Begel for hosting a refugee in her home(!). This prosecution was specious and vindictive because of the "question" to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, "when will you stop lying about pushbacks?".

The truth is that the government is following in the footsteps of Trump's ICE, the killers of Rene Goode and Alex Pretti. The crime in Chios serves as a reminder of the impunity of the Coast Guard. It is dramatically necessary so that we do not mourn more human lives in the Aegean and the Mediterranean. The trial of 21 Coast Guard officers, including the current chief, who continues to give orders to deter migrants, to the applause of far-right ministers such as Plevris, must take place, and human lives must not be lost.

We demand an end to the persecution of Tommy Olsen. The Norwegian government must not even consider extraditing him to Greece. On the contrary, Tryfonas Kontizas must be dismissed as head of the Coast Guard.

The struggle for refugee rights and the fight to prevent Trump's policies, the far right, and fascism from prevailing unite us globally.

That is why we are rising up on March 28, global day against racism and afscism, with a demonstration in Athens, at Syntagma Square, at 3 p.m.

KEERFA-MOVEMENT UNITED AGAINST RACISM AND THE FASCIST THREAT