Later, in January 2023, regarding charges against 24 human rights defenders who were helping to rescue migrants in distress at sea off Lesvos Island, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants stated that: ‘[t]rials like this are deeply concerning because they criminalise life-saving work and set a dangerous precedent. Indeed, there has already been a chilling effect, with human rights defenders and humanitarian organisations forced to halt their human rights work in Greece and other EU countries’.180 On 13 January 2023, the espionage charges were dropped by the Court. 181 On 30 January 2024,182 in a new trial, the accused were found not guilty on the misdemeanours and the criminal proceedings for the felonies remain pending. In April 2024, the Judicial Council of the Misdemeanour Court of Mitilini issued a decision to drop criminal charges against 35 international aid workers who had been prosecuted for alleged espionage and facilitating the illegal entry of migrants and not to proceed to trial. 183 The Judicial Council dismissed the prosecutor’s allegations and ruled there was insufficient proof to pursue the case against the 35 individuals, mostly German nationals, stating that “[t]here is not enough evidence to support the accusations against the defendants.”184 On 4 December 2025, 24 human rights defenders appeared before the Mytilene Court of Appeals, on the island of Lesvos, seven years after their initial arrests facing felony charges of ‘membership of a criminal organisation’, ‘facilitation of the entry of third country nationals into the country’, and ‘money laundering’. The charges stem from work carried out by the defenders in Greece between 2016 and 2018, where they assisted people on the move whose lives were at risk while trying to reach safety to the island of Lesvos.185 Following hearings in early 2026, all human rights defenders were acquitted on 15 January 2026, giving an end to one of the most well-known cases of criminalisation of life saving work.186 Since 2022, persecutions of activists working with migrants continue in 2024, notably against the founders of the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM)187 and of the Aegean Boat Report (ABR), who were both subject to investigations and charged by Greek judicial authorities on the island of Kos for ‘forming or joining for profit and by profession, a criminal organisation with the purpose of facilitating the entry and stay of third country nationals into Greek territory.”188 On 2nd June 2023, the Asylum Campaign requested in a press release to stop a) the prosecution of those persons and organisations operating in the context of their role 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 ‘My concerns were compounded by accounts I received during my country visit to Greece in June 2022 detailing how fear of criminalisation has spread among human rights defenders working in the field of migration in the country. As I underlined in my preliminary observations following the visit, solidarity should never be punished and compassion should never be put on trial’: UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Human rights defenders on trial in Greece, 9 January 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3MVFVtp France24, Greek court drops spying charges against migrant rescuers, 13 January 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3BQKu1R. The Press Project, «Μεγάλη νίκη στη Μυτιλήνη: Αθώοι για τα πλημμελήματα οι 16 ανθρωπιστές – «Μετά από 6 χρόνια, επιτέλους αποδόθηκε δικαιοσύνη», 30 January 2024, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3xDvzsP. Reuters, Greek court drops criminal charges against 35 international aid workers, 30 April 2024, available here. The Guardian, Greek court drops espionage charges against aid workers, Accused were arrested in Lesbos and accused of facilitating illegal entry of migrants into the country, 1 May 2024, available here. Amnesty International: The State of the World's Human Rights; Greece 2025, 21 April 2026 https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2139304.html; Human Rights Watch (HRW) “Humanitarians’ Baseless Trial in Greece No Evidence of Crimes But Risk of Prison for Saving Lives” https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/12/11/humanitarians-baseless-trial-in-greece The Guardian, ‘Rights groups hail acquittal after seven years of aid workers prosecuted during Greece refugee crisis’, 16 January 2026, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3fbv49xf. “Some medias have publicized “what appears to be leaked information on the alleged investigation, in some cases alongside a picture of Dimitras. The money laundering case reportedly concerns “funding Dimitras received, mainly from the EU, to support human rights causes, that was used for other purposes than those claimed,” according to a Kathimerini [BP1] article. Dimitras said the only EU funds his organization receives, as published on the European Commission’s website, are for the fight against hate speech and called these claims unfounded “slander.” See, Human Rights Watch, Greece: Smear campaign against rights activists, 19 June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/43OSihL. See, also, Asylum Campaign (Καμπάνια για το Άσυλο) Press Release, The attempt to silence human rights defenders continues. What remains to be decided are its accompanying measures, 22 December 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/45BXpT4. Human Rights Watch, Greece: Migrant Rights Defenders Face Charges, End Judicial Harassment of Migrant Rights Activists; Respect Asylum Obligations, 26 January 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/43ifSlx. 55