ATHENS: The legal defense team for nine Egyptian men due to go on trial in southern Greece next week accused of causing one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwrecks said Thursday they will argue that Greece has no jurisdiction in the case, and insisted their clients were innocent survivors who have been unjustly prosecuted.
The nine, whose ages range from early 20s to early 40s, are due to go on trial in the southern city of Kalamata on May 21 on a series of charges, including migrant smuggling, participation in a criminal organization and causing a deadly shipwreck. They face multiple life sentences if convicted.
The Adriana, an overcrowded fishing trawler, had been sailing from Libya to Italy with hundreds of asylum-seekers on board when it sank on June 14 in international waters off the southwestern coast of Greece.
The exact number of people on board has never been established, but estimates range from around 500 to more than 700. Only 104 people survived — all men and boys from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and two Palestinians — and about 80 bodies were recovered. The vessel sank in one of the Mediterranean’s deepest areas, making recovery efforts all but impossible.
The Greek lawyers who make up the defense team spoke during a news conference in Athens on Thursday. They maintained their clients’ innocence, saying all nine defendants had been paying passengers who had been misidentified as crew members by other survivors who gave testimonies under duress just hours after having been rescued.
The nine “are random people, smuggled people who paid the same amounts as all the others to take this trip to Italy aiming for a better life, and they are accused of being part of the smuggling team,” lawyer and defense team member Vicky Aggelidou said.
Dimitris Choulis, another lawyer and member of the legal team, said that Greek authorities named the defendants as crew members following testimonies by nine other survivors who identified them for having done things as simple as handing bottles of water or pieces of fruit to other passengers.
“For nearly a year now, nine people have been in prison without knowing what they are in prison for,” Choulis said.
“For me, it is very sad to visit and see people in prison who do not understand why they are there,” he added.
While the Adriana was sailing in international waters, the area was within Greece’s search and rescue zone of responsibility. Greece’s coast guard had been shadowing the vessel for a full day without attempting a rescue of those on board. A patrol boat and at least two merchant ships were in the vicinity when the trawler capsized and sank.
In the aftermath of the sinking, some survivors said the coast guard had been attempting to tow the boat when it sank, and rights activists have accused Greek authorities of triggering the shipwreck while attempting to tow the boat out of Greece’s zone of responsibility.
Greek authorities have rejected accusations of triggering the shipwreck and have insisted the trawler’s crew members had refused to accept help from the nearby merchant ships and from the Greek coast guard.
A separate investigation being carried out by Greece’s naval court hasn’t yet reached any conclusion, and the defense team hasn’t been given any access to any part of it.
The Egyptians’ defense team also argues that because the shipwreck occurred in international waters, Greek courts don’t have jurisdiction to try the case, and the defense will move to have the case dismissed on those grounds when the trial opens in Kalamata next week.
Greece lies along one of the most popular routes into the European Union for people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. While most of those cross into the country’s eastern Aegean Sea islands from the nearby Turkish coast, others try to skirt Greece altogether and head from north Africa to Italy across the longer and more dangerous Mediterranean route.
On Thursday, Greece’s coast guard said that 42 people had been rescued and another three were believed to be missing after a boat carrying migrants sent out a distress call while sailing south of the Greek island of Crete.
Officials said they were alerted by the Italian coast guard overnight about a boat in distress 27 nautical miles (31 miles or 50 kilometers) south of Crete. Greece’s coast guard said that 40 people were rescued by nearby ships, and another two were rescued by a Greek navy helicopter.
A search and rescue operation was underway for three people reported by survivors as still missing. It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of vessel the passengers had been on, or why the boat sent out a distress call.
Greek defense team says 9 Egyptians accused of causing deadly shipwreck were misidentified as crew
https://arab.news/gkr78
Greek defense team says 9 Egyptians accused of causing deadly shipwreck were misidentified as crew

- The nine are due to go on trial in Kalamata on May 21 on a series of charges, including migrant smuggling, participation in a criminal organization and causing a deadly shipwreck
- They face multiple life sentences if convicted
Palestinian detainee Najem dies in Israeli custody after medical negligence

- Mohyee al-Din Fahmi Najem is the 66th Palestinian prisoner since October 2023 to die in an Israeli prison
- During a prison visit in March, Najem was unable to walk without assistance
LONDON: A Palestinian prisoner died on Sunday at Israel’s Soroka Medical Center after spending more than a year and a half in indefinite administrative detention, the Wafa news agency reported.
Mohyee al-Din Fahmi Najem, 60, was detained on Aug. 8, 2023 under administrative detention, a practice that allows Israeli authorities to hold individuals in prison without trial for six months, subject to indefinite renewals.
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, said Najem died after suffering from medical neglect in Israeli prisons.
The Palestinian Authority’s affiliated groups said that Najem “suffered from chronic illnesses and was denied proper medical care during his incarceration.”
Najem was a father of six from Jenin town, in the northern occupied West Bank, who has spent 19 years in Israeli prisons because of his political activism. During a March prison visit, he was unable to walk without assistance, according to the commission and the Prisoners’ Society. They accused Israeli authorities of “compound crimes” during Najem’s prolonged detention, and medical negligence.
He was previously held in the notorious Negev Prison, known for its outbreaks of scabies last November and poor hygiene and medical infrastructure.
Najem is the 66th Palestinian prisoner to die in an Israeli prison since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. Among those who died, 40 were from the Gaza Strip.
Since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, 303 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody, with 75 of those bodies still being withheld by Israel.
UAE president, Qatar emir review regional developments in Abu Dhabi

- Leaders discussed efforts to address the latest developments in the Middle East
LONDON: The president of the UAE and the emir of Qatar discussed bilateral ties during a meeting at Qasr Al-Shati in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest, focusing particularly on the latest developments in the Middle East and sharing insights on efforts to address them.
The leaders explored ways to boost cooperation for the benefit and prosperity of both nations, the Emirates News Agency reported.
Several senior officials and ministers attended the meeting, including Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and national security adviser, and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.
Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 16, including 3 children

- Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas
GAZA: Gaza’s civil defense agency on Sunday said Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory killed 16 people, including at least three children.
Six people were killed in overnight air strikes in Khan Yunis governorate, in the south of the Gaza Strip, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said. They included two boys aged five and two, in an apartment in Al-Mawasi.
The civil defense later said 10 more people were killed in a strike on a tent also in Al-Mawasi, among them a child and seven women.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond for comment when contact by AFP. A spokesperson said they were gathering details.
A military statement issued in the morning said the army had “struck more than 100 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip” during the past two days.
It said soldiers found “weapons caches” and killed “a number of terrorists” in the south.
Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas, which was triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Sunday said at least 2,436 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the war’s overall death toll to 52,535.
Israel halted aid deliveries to Gaza, saying Hamas had diverted supplies. Israel says the blockade is meant to pressure the militants into releasing hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
UN agencies have urged Israel to lift restrictions, saying Gazans have been experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe and warning of famine.
Lebanon holds local polls in first vote since Israel-Hezbollah war

BEIRUT: Lebanon on Sunday began the first stage of long-delayed municipal elections, the first vote since a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah and after a new national government was formed.
Polls opened at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) for voters in the Mount Lebanon district, a heavily populated area with mixed political and religious affiliations that includes Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that was heavily damaged by Israeli strikes.
“We have come to exercise our right and have our voices heard,” said Hashem Shamas, 39, a Hezbollah supporter, after voting in south Beirut’s Shiyah neighborhood.
According to the interior ministry, 9,321 candidates including 1,179 women are running in the Mount Lebanon district.
Lebanon is supposed to hold municipal elections every six years, but cash-strapped authorities last held a local ballot in 2016.
President Joseph Aoun emphasized the vote’s importance to “give confidence to the people and internationally that Lebanon is rebuilding its institutions and is back on the right track.”
Aoun was elected in January and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam formed a government the following month, ending a more than two-year vacuum as Lebanon’s balance of power shifted following the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The new authorities have promised reforms in order to gain the trust of the international community, as well as unlock billions in bail-out funds amid a five-year economic crisis. They have also vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms.
Hezbollah was left badly weakened in more than a year of hostilities with Israel, with a slew of commanders including the group’s longtime chief, Hassan Nasrallah, killed and its strongholds pummelled in the south and east and in south Beirut.
Israel has continued to strike targets in Lebanon despite a ceasefire and still has troops in five areas it considers “strategic.”
In April 2024, the municipal polls were postponed amid the hostilities, which escalated in September into a major Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion before the ceasefire about two months later.
Aoun urged voters not to let sectarian, “partisan or financial factors” impact their vote.
Religious and political affiliations are usually key electoral considerations in multi-confessional Lebanon, where power is shared along sectarian lines.
Municipal ballots however provide a greater margin for local community dynamics to play a role.
Polls are set to close at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Areas of northern Lebanon will vote on May 11, with Beirut and the country’s eastern Bekaa Valley area set to go to the polls on May 18, while voters in the heavily damaged south will cast ballots on May 24.
Lebanese army says Hamas hands over rocket fire suspect

- Israel’s military has continued to strike Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army said Sunday Hamas had handed over a Palestinian suspected of involvement in rocket fire at Israel, days after authorities warned the militant group against harming the country’s security.
Hamas handed over the man “at the entrance to Ain Al-Helweh,” an army statement said, referring to a restive Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon.
“He is suspected of involvement in two rocket launches toward” Israel from Lebanon on March 22 and 28, the statement said.
Israel responded to the rocket fire by bombing south Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hamas ally Hezbollah holds sway.
Israel’s military has continued to strike Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war.
The Israeli military often says it has targeted Hezbollah operatives or infrastructure, but also occasionally Hamas members or other allies.
Sunday’s army statement said the suspect’s handover came based on the “recommendation of the Higher Defense Council and the Lebanese government decision on warning against the use of Lebanese territory to carry out any action that threatens Lebanese national security.”
The council issued the recommendation on Friday, warning that “the utmost measures” would be taken to stop any action that violates Lebanese sovereignty.
Last month, the army arrested several Lebanese and Palestinian individuals accused of involvement in the March launches.
A Lebanese security source told AFP at the time three Hamas members had been arrested.
No group claimed responsibility for the rocket launches, and Hezbollah denied any involvement.