captainsupport.net | 5 April 2024
The Trial Date for the Pylos 9 is Announced
On Tuesday 21 May 2024, the trial of the 9 defendants (the ‘Pylos 9’) from the shipwreck of the fishing vessel “Adriana”, that occurred on 14 June 2023 in international waters near Pylos, is scheduled to take place before the Three Member Felony Court of Appeals of Kalamata.
The nine survivors have been arrested and unjustly accused, facing serious charges for membership in a criminal organization, facilitating unauthorized transport of foreigners in the Greek territory and causing the shipwreck that resulted in hundreds of people losing their lives.
The interrogator judge of Kalamata has closed the case, after only 6 months of investigation, rejecting the requests for annulment and the demand for further and deeper investigation into available evidence made by the legal team supporting the nine defendants1, which would allow the real events behind the Pylos shipwreck to be revealed.
Extensive investigations, made mainly by national and international media outlets but also EU organizations2, have proven the inconsistencies and deficits by the Greek and European authorities. Mounting evidence shows that the delay of the provision of help to the people in distress on Adriana3 and the final operation by the Hellenic Coast Guard Vessel PPLS-920 to tow and pull the boat, which was originally denied, had contributed the most to the sinking of Adriana4. In addition, there are serious concerns about the value of some of the testimonies taken by the HCG officers from the survivors, which have been used to criminalize the Pylos 95. Furthermore, the Greek authorities seem reluctant to conduct a proper investigation6, while videos taken from PL-920 and many of the passengers, that
would have captured the last moments before the shipwreck, haven’t been collected, were
forgotten, or have been denied to be introduced as evidence in this case7.
Despite the above, the Pylos 9 are facing several life sentences in prison in the upcoming trial.
We demand for:
- The immediate acquittal of the 9 survivors from all charges
- Their immediate release and their proper treatment and support as survivors of the shipwreck
- A thorough and independent investigation of the real events behind the ‘Pylos Shipwreck’