Greek police have cracked down on a refugee rescue outfit set up by Panos Moraitis, accusing members of money laundering, spying and other charges.
Four members of the Piraeus-based Emergency Response Centre International (ERCI) — the non-governmental organisation (NGO) founded in 2015 by Moraitis, the chief of Aspida Maritime Security — are in detention on the Greek island of Lesbos.
Two of them voluntarily appeared before authorities to deny charges filed against them, including forgery, spying, money-laundering and violating the official secrets act.
Moraitis remains at large and an arrest warrant is understood to have been issued against him. TradeWinds has learned he has withdrawn from Aspida and that he plans to surrender to Greek authorities to defend himself.
“Aspida continues to offer its high-end services as it has done in the past and nothing has changed in our business,” the company said in a statement on its website, adding that Aspida and ERCI are legally and operationally separate organisations.
News of the charges came as a shock to many on the Greek shipping scene. Moraitis is a well-known, socially active personality. In 2016, he received a US Coast Guard Amver award for efforts in saving refugees in the Aegean Sea.
ERCI, Aspida and a lawyer representing two of the arrested volunteers have been vocal in denying the charges.
Aspida said in its statement that the prosecution was part of “an international effort to criminalise humanitarianism”.
Humanitarian organisations assisting refugees have been facing flak in Europe.
Some authorities publicly accuse the NGOs of provoking the immigration flows they are claiming to help manage. In July, Malta opened legal proceedings against Claus-Peter Reisch, the German captain of the charity-run, 231-gt ship Lifeline (built 1968) after he rescued more than 200 migrants in the Mediterranean.
Prosecution is not borne out by the facts
According to the Lesbos police press release announcing the arrests on 28 August, the ERCI profited from the refugee crisis by soliciting donations and grants, but police do not detail how the group is alleged to have used donations illegally. The NGO has asserted that it has not misappropriated any funds.
The police also accuse the ERCI and other NGOs of refusing to share information with authorities and claim the centre’s activity has been playing into the hands of people smugglers operating from Turkey.
“It is a matter for competent authorities to establish the substantial amounts the criminal organisation has gained,” the police statement said.
Spying charges seem to have been sparked by the ERCI’s use of equipment to listen in on coastguard frequencies — a widespread practice among NGOs operating in the region.
On the other hand, the ERCI has not provided any adequate response to a charge that it was using a jeep carrying fake military licence plates.
“Prosecution is not borne out by the facts,” said Haris Petsikos, a lawyer for two of the ERCI volunteers who have been detained.
One of them is Sarah Mardini, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee, whose sister Yusra, a swimmer, was part of the Refugee Olympic Team at Rio in 2016. In 2015, the sisters made international headlines after they saved 18 other migrants by guiding their waterlogged boat to the Greek coast.
