A naval court has charged 17 Greek coastguards over the deadliest migrant boat tragedy in the Mediterranean for a decade.
Up to 650 people were feared to have drowned when the overcrowded Adriana fishing trawler capsized in the Ionian Sea in the early hours of June 14, 2023.
It had left Libya for Italy with an estimated 750 people on board, but only 104 of them — all of whom were men — are known to have survived.
Survivors alleged that Greek coastguards, which monitored the ship for 15 hours, caused their vessel to sink near the town of Pylos in a botched attempt to tow it.
Greek authorities, who were also accused of silencing victims, have continuously rejected the allegations against them.
But the Deputy Prosecutor of the Piraeus Naval Court has found that 17 members of the Hellenic Coast Guard should face criminal charges.
Among those to face charges is the captain of the coastguard ship — the HCG Mourmouris Grigorios LS-920 — who is accused of "causing a shipwreck”, leading to the deaths of "at least 82 people".
This corresponds to the number of bodies recovered, although hundreds of others below the boat’s deck — including women and children — are believed to have gone missing.
The captain has also been charged with "dangerous interference of maritime transport" and "failure to provide assistance" to the boat.
Meanwhile, the entire crew has been charged with being complicit in the incident two years ago.
And the then-Chief of the Coast Guard and the Supervisor of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Centre in Piraeus are among four officials charged with "exposing others to danger".
A spokesman for the victim’s legal team welcomed the charges, saying: "Almost two years after the Pylos shipwreck, the prosecution and referral to main investigation for felonies of 17 members of the Coast Guard, including senior officers of its leadership, constitutes a substantial and self-evident development in the course of vindication of the victims and the delivery of justice."
Last year, a case against nine Egyptians was thrown out, amid claims they had been scapegoated by Greece.
The Kalamata tribunal ruled that Egypt has no jurisdiction over the case because the disaster occurred in international waters.
