competence as the National Mechanism for the Investigation of Arbitrary Incidents, following the express refusal of the Hellenic Coast Guard to pursue a disciplinary investigation.73 On 1 December 2023, the Fundamental Rights Office (FRO) of Frontex published its aforementioned serious incident report about the Pylos shipwreck, which concluded that “there was reasonable certainty that persons aboard Adriana were threatened by grave and imminent danger and required immediate assistance. …The Greek authorities appeared to have delayed the declaration of SAR operation until the moment of the shipwreck when it was no longer possible to rescue all the people on board, deployed insufficient and inappropriate resources considering the number of persons aboard Adriana, and failed to make use of the resources offered by Frontex. Fundamental Rights Office regrets that it was not given relevant information by the Greek authorities in response to its enquiry but expects to receive the results of two ongoing national judicial proceedings, as well as the Greek Ombudsman enquiry”. 74 On 26 February 2024, the European Ombudsperson released her conclusions on EU search and rescue and, in particular, regarding whether FRONTEX complies with its fundamental rights obligation, notably in the context of the Pylos shipwreck. In her report, the European Ombudsperson inter alia underlines that there are growing concerns about persistent violations of fundamental rights in Greece’s border control operations, and that the investigation of the shipwreck and any assessment of the facts is severely compromised by the absence of video or other recording of the shipwreck and the following events, which raises again a pattern of inadequate handling and subsequent investigation of such incidents from the Greek authorities. Concluding, the Ombudsperson notes that “[t]he European Union projects its identity through the prism of its commitment to the rule of law and to fundamental rights. In the aftermath of the Adriana tragedy, it should take the opportunity to reinforce that identity through reflection and through actions that would, to the greatest extent possible, prevent such a tragedy from happening again”.75 On 28 February 2024 the European Ombudsperson also stated inter alia: “The rules governing the EU’s border and coastguard agency Frontex must be urgently revised if Europe is to avoid a repeat of last year’s tragedy off the coast of Greece in which about 600 people are thought to have died, an official investigation has found”.76 Meanwhile, in May 2024, the Court of Kalamata dismissed the charges of migrant smuggling, causing a shipwreck, participating in a criminal organisation and of illegal entry held against the nine Egyptians survivors of the Pylos shipwreck.77 The Court decided that Greek jurisdiction could not be established because the overcrowded trawler sank outside the country’s territorial waters. Thus, the Court dismissed the charges for the crimes of causing a shipwreck and membership of a criminal organisation and ruled that in the case of smuggling and illegal entry the legal elements were not fulfilled.78 In December 2024, the lawyers representing the survivors and victims of the shipwrecked fishing vessel “Adriana”, were informed that the competent Deputy Prosecutor of the Naval Court of Piraeus had 73 74 75 76 77 78 The Greek Ombudsperson, Press Release, The Greek Ombudsman investigates the Pylos shipwreck case: “[a]n independent investigation is initiated by the Greek Ombudsman on the Pylos shipwreck incident. The Ombudsman Mr. Andreas Pottakis addressed two letters to the Commandant of the Hellenic Coastguard requesting a thorough internal investigation on any acts or omissions by Coastguard officers in connection to the tragic incident of 14.06.2023. Following the expressed denial of the Coastguard to initiate a disciplinary investigation, the Independent Authority decided to initiate its own investigation, in its special mandate as National Mechanism for the Investigation of Arbitrary Incidents in relation to acts or omissions of Coastguard officers upon the Pylos shipwreck. The Ombudsman considers that absolute transparency on administrative actions taken by competent officials concerning this tragic incident where many lives were lost is an elementary Rule of Law command”, 9 November 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/4aIVlKI. FRO Frontex, Final Serious Incident Report, SIR 12595/2023, 1 December 2023, p. 16, available at: https://bit.ly/3xjxX7Y. Conclusions of the European Ombudsman on EU search and rescue following her inquiry into how the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) complies with its fundamental rights obligations in the context of its maritime surveillance activities, in particular the Adriana shipwreck, 26 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/38mukedp. For more information, see inter alia, RSA, The European Ombudsman on the Pylos shipwreck, 1 March 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3jrxnpwu The Guardian, ‘Watchdog urges EU rescue rules change after migrant boat disaster off Greece’, 28 February 2024, available here. Aljazeera, Greece court dismisses charges against nine Egyptians over Pylos shipwreck, 21 May 2024, available here. Legal Center Lesvos, Press Release, 21 May 2024, available here. 37