The lawsuit in Greece against Pieter Wittenberg from Peest and 23 other rescue workers will be continued on January 10 next year. Wittenberg and the helpers are suspected of people smuggling and espionage during the refugee crisis on the Greek islands in 2016 and 2017, among other things.
Wittenberg saved boat people by helping them ashore on Lesvos and providing them with further assistance. According to him, these were people who were cold, scared and had just finished a difficult boat trip.
At the beginning of November last year, the Greek judiciary demanded 10 to 25 years in prison against Wittenberg and the other rescuers. Two weeks later, the judge decided to postpone the case because he did not consider himself competent.
On January 10, the case will therefore be continued in the court of Mytilini, the capital of Lesvos. Wittenberg was already being questioned by the examining magistrate today and in October. He was promised that the documents in the criminal file will be translated into an understandable language for him. The lyrics are still in Greek, which is inimitable for Wittenberg. It also stands in the way of a fair trial, he says.
Amnesty International has strongly opposed the case against the rescuers. The organization, like Human Rights Watch, says the “politically motivated” process is designed to intimidate other aid workers. The European Parliament called it the ‘biggest case of criminalizing solidarity in Europe’.
In addition to Wittenberg, it is known that Sarah Mardini from Syria and the German Irishman Seán Binder are suspected of criminal offenses. They rescue people from the sea, were arrested in 2018 and were detained for more than a hundred days. It was the period when Wittenberg worked as skipper on a lifeboat.