Greece: trial of young Afghans accused of setting fire to Moria camp in Lesbos

Photo of Moria refugee camp, Greece, taken on September 10, 2020, two days after the fire.

Almost 13,000 homeless migrants remained wandering on the island of Lesvos.

AFP - LOUISA GOULIAMAKI

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

On September 8 and 9, two fires ravaged the overcrowded Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Fires which had completely destroyed this sordid camp, without causing any victims.

But the tragedy had thrown on the roads 13,000 migrants, including pregnant women, children and disabled.

Four young Afghans have started to appear in court on the island of Chios, accused of setting the fire.

Two other young Afghans have already been sentenced to 5 years in prison last March.

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The key question on the first day of the trial: were the accused minors at the time of the crime?

According to the NGO which defends them, three of the four young Afghans had presented documents proving that they were under 18 when they were arrested, which has so far not been recognized. 

Arrived handcuffed in court, they face up to 15 years in prison for arson and membership of a criminal organization.

For health reasons, no journalist was allowed to enter the court. 

Another absent before the judges: the main witness, a young Afghan asylum seeker who had named his compatriots as the authors of the fire, which the four suspects refute, claiming their innocence. 

On the night of the first fire, the situation was extremely tense in this overcrowded camp where up to 20,000 migrants were living in makeshift shelters and in deplorable hygienic conditions.

Tensions that had exploded that night, involving some 200 migrants - they had refused to be placed in solitary confinement after the detection of a case of Coronavirus. 

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