228 Sudanese youth incarcerated after arrival on Crete

228 Sudanese youth incarcerated after arrival on Crete with only 12 of them acquitted, Alarm Phone said.

Alarm Phone disclosed this in a statement in which it showed solidarity for the founder of @BoatReport arrested in Norway.  

The statement said; “So far, out of 228 Sudanese youth incarcerated after their arrival on #Crete, only 12 have been acquitted.”

Last week alone, Alarm Phone said “38 young men were each sentenced to 10 years or longer, in the court of Chania! After their arrival on Crete & after surviving the dangerous journey crossing the Mediterranean, Sudanese refugees of war face systematic, politically motivated incarceration.”

Alarm Phone said it stands in solidarity with activist Tommy Olsen, the founder of @ABoatReport, and  Norwegian citizen, who was arrested last week in Norway, following an international arrest warrant issued by the state of #Greece. 

Olsen is accused of human trafficking and leadership of a criminal organisation. News also reports an accusation for espionage. “He was held in custody but is now free, after a Norwegian court has ruled that he will be extradited to #Greece, where his trial shall be held,’’Alarm Phone said.

However, it said “the real crimes are not acts of resistance or the defense of human rights! The real crimes are #pushbacks and human rights violations by the @HCoastGuard, the @hellenicpolice & the Greek government!

“The real crimes include pushbacks, violence such as physical assault, robbery and shootings, non-assistance, forcing people onto life-rafts and leaving them drifting in the middle of the sea & even causing shipwrecks.

“The real crimes are against people on the move such as #Sudanese teenagers & young men being tried for driving boats every week – without international media attention!

“We call on those in solidarity with people on the move to raise awareness and to protest against the crimes against humanity that are perpetrated on a daily basis at the borders.

“Every person that is pushed back, every person that is left in an unseaworthy boat, every child in distress that is not rescued is reason enough to stand up and raise one’s voice. We will not be silenced! Standing in solidarity with Tommy Olsen, we are urging the Norwegian authorities to oppose the extradition & for the Greek Public Prosecutor’s Office to drop the charges against him!”