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“I was piloting the boat, but not of my own free will. They forced me, they threatened me with weapons!” I deny the accusations. “The driver of the boat, which was transporting more than 100 migrants off the coast of Halki, described the investigator how he had received death threats from members of a migrant smuggling network if he did not seize the ship.
“THEMA” today reveals the file formed by the agents of the Coast Guard for the largest shipwreck in Greece, which caused a “minor incident” between the Greek and Turkish authorities.
A total of four people have been arrested on charges of illegally entering the country, illegally smuggling various migrants from abroad, causing a shipwreck and endangering all survivors. A woman testified to the Coast Guard that her husband and son drowned!
Knife threats: “You will be the governor, otherwise we will kill you!”
According to the immigrants, everything seems to have started on the Turkish coast. A Turk transported the migrants from a hotel and then disappeared. One of the main defendants stated that an agreement was reached to transfer him from Turkey to Greece. However, as he told the investigator, when he boarded the ship everything changed. “I made an agreement with …… I gave 5,000 euros to go from Turkey to Italy, they didn’t tell me before that I would be governor.
I gave the money to… When I got on the boat they told me I had to be the captain. They told me you would be the governor or we would kill you. They told me I have these two options. When I went to pay I had told them that I knew mechanically and had offered to help if something went wrong on the boat “, he said and continued:” Ο .. he was in charge of the boat, he was passing me a knife, he did everything and gave orders to all. and me. I was not responsible for loading the ship nor could I control why they threatened me. A Turk was responsible for the transfer from the hotel to the ship, then he disappeared. “
The defendant also stayed out of the way the shipwreck took place. “They asked me … … to hold the wheel for a few minutes so that I could go down when the water started to come in, to see what happened because I know from a mechanical point of view.” I tried to save the situation on my own initiative “he said in an apology.
According to the file, the testimonies of the survivors showed that the ship was carrying illegal immigrants, who were leaving Turkey. Most identified four people, who were rescued and appear to have worked together to make the trip. A Syrian woman told the Coast Guard that her husband and son could not survive.
The moment of the shipwreck and the rescue operation …
At 4 pm on August 25, 112 receives a call from an immigrant who says: “The ship that transported us from Turkey has sunk.” Immediately means alarm. The Joint Search and Rescue Coordination Center is informed of the sailboat in distress. A Greek Navy ship sets sail for Halki to pick up a diver and begin the search and rescue operation. “At around 8:50 p.m. our Service vessels located a white semi-submerged yacht of about twenty meters with the SEA POWER logo, which had a continuous influx of water, while in the wider maritime zone there were a sufficient number of people, without lifeboats ”. on file with the Coast Guard.
An Air Force Super Puma helicopter, TPK “Grigoropoulos” of the Navy, as well as merchant ships for assistance and collection of people who were at sea, also rushed in this area. A total of 72 people were collected ”, it is indicated in the same document. All of those rescued were transported to the port of Kamiros Skala in Rhodes and then boarded buses and were escorted by Coast Guard vehicles to a hotel. There they underwent a coronavirus test. The Super Puma helicopter transported five other survivors to Karpathos and a few hours later to Rhodes.
As it was learned by the Coast Guard, the operation was almost complete when two Turkish coast guards appeared at the scene, who did not have jurisdiction and did not declare to the Greek search and rescue chief their presence in the area. One of them contacted the ship of the Turkish interests and managed to collect 17 of the 96 and transport them to the Turkish shores. A second Turkish coast guard intercepted a radio transmission on Channel 16. An Air Force Super Puma flew to the scene to pick up an injured Chinese sailor, a member of the ship’s crew, who was involved in the search. According to the testimonies of the port authorities, the Turks spoke Greek and tried to deceive them, without success.
“I believe that due to the circumstances, the defendant Abulatif Youssef was found to be apologizing for crimes he did not commit.” The Turkish merchant industry has expanded so much that the smugglers themselves anticipate the risk and oblige the passengers of the ships transport to take them to death or arrest, “he told THEMA. The defender of the boat driver Stefanos Kapsalis added that:” So it was with my client, who despite giving 5,000 euros to go to his final destination in Belgium , to his relatives, under the threat of a weapon he finally found himself entangled. With absolute confidence in the Justice during the trial, all the facts will lead to the correct decision. “
