c) Failure to provide assistance by the captain of a vessel (Article 122 of the Naval Penal Code). 2.The crew of the HCG vessel (ΠΠΛΣ 920), on the charge of simple complicity in the aforementioned acts (a) and (b) committed by the captain. 3.Furthermore, all of the above, as well as the then-Chief of the Hellenic Coast Guard, the Supervisor of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, and the two Navigation Safety Officers on duty that day, on the charges of exposing others to danger, despite their legal obligation to rescue them, thereby leaving them in a helpless state, resulting to the death of at least 82 individuals (Article 306 para. 1, 2(b) of the Penal Code). According to the Order of the same competent Prosecutor, criminal prosecution was not initiated, and the case was archived with respect to four other officers of the Hellenic Coast Guard, despite their presence in the operations room and their strategic involvement in the handling of the incident, as the Prosecutor deemed them not legally competent at that time regarding the responsibility for the operation and actions of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Centre. The lawyers representing the survivors and victims of the Pylos shipwreck […]” have already filed appeals “[…] before the Prosecutor of the Court of Appeals against the Prosecutor's Order that archived the case with respect to the four officers, requesting the initiation of criminal prosecution against them as well, as they were involved in the handling of the incident on behalf of the competent bodies of the Hellenic Coast Guard – whose responsibilities had also been highlighted by the Ombudsman's investigation report – including the current Chief of the Hellenic Coast Guard […]. The main investigation before the Piraeus Naval Court is still pending. Developments on investigating and reporting pushbacks The Greek Authorities consistently deny all pushback allegations, 90 which to a certain extend may also explain the lack of any effective investigation into such allegations. In its aforementioned landmark judgment in the case of A.R.E. v. Greece, 91 the ECtHR held that: [f]urther to the foregoing and with regard to the criminal proceedings referred to by the Government, the Court notes that it is very clear from the case-file, and in particular from the information provided by the Government itself, that all the cases in which the competent public prosecutors had opened criminal investigations were discontinued […]. As a result, none of these cases progressed beyond the preliminary investigation stage and, consequently, no proceedings were brought against those who might have been responsible. In the light of the very large number of complaints lodged and the reports of the competent national and international institutions, which point to recurrent shortcomings that hamper the effectiveness and diligence of the criminal investigations into the alleged refoulements […] the Court considers that this situation is such as to cast serious doubt on the effectiveness of the criminal proceedings […] It therefore considers that, in the present state of national practice, a criminal complaint does not constitute a remedy to be exhausted in respect of violations of Articles 2, 3 or 5 of the Convention allegedly committed in the course of refoulement. This conclusion summarises the situation of the ongoing or conducted criminal investigations in Greece for allegations connected to pushbacks. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) noted, in its recent 2024 Report on Greece, that “[t]he Greek authorities have continued to maintain that violent forcible informal removals from Greece to Türkiye do not occur”.92 This is also one of the challenges identified by the FRONTEX Fundamental Rights Officer (FRO), who underlined “[n]ational authorities denying by default in any involvement in fundamental rights violations and being reluctant to investigate or follow up on cases”.93 90 91 92 93 See for example Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights, Letter to the Minister for Citizens’ Protection of Greece, the Minister of Migration and Asylum of Greece and the Minister of Shipping and Island Policy of Greece, 3-5-2021, CommHR/DM/sf 019-2021, “I am deeply concerned that the official reaction of the Greek authorities has often been to simply dismiss allegations of pushbacks despite the overwhelming body of evidence that has been presented in recent years”, available here. ECtHR, A.R.E. v. Greece (Application no. 15783/21), 7 January 2025, para. 198, available in French here. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), Report to the Greek Government on the visit to Greece carried out by the [CPT] from 20 November to 1 December 2023, CPT/Inf (2024) 21, p. 5, available here. FRONTEX, The Funamental Rights Officer Annual Report 2022, p. 28, July 2023, available here. 40