1. We spent months investigating how European courts have wrongfully prosecuted asylum seekers as smugglers. This resource-intensive piece was edited by @Eric_Reidy & supported by #IJ4EU @globalfreemedia Here's a thread @isobelvthompson @we_are_solomon bit.ly/3Dq29PQ
2. What we found is a chilling series of structural inequities in the criminal justice systems in Italy, Greece and the UK which can be easily weaponized against who doesn’t speak the language and has no legal status.
3.Between 2015 and 2021, Italy detained over 2,000 asylum seekers and migrants on smuggling charges. In Greece, 7,000 people were arrested for smuggling between 2015 to 2019. In the UK hundreds of people have been arrested and dozens convicted of crimes related to smuggling
4.Many of them were accused of being at the helm of a migrant boat but even passing a water bottle to others during the sea crossing or turning on a phone to find GPS coordinates can be used by prosecutors to build a case
5.After months spent analyzing court documents, reports, academic papers and interviewing dozens and dozens of people, including lawyers, legal experts, asylum seekers, academic researchers, and human rights advocates, we found that:
6.Many of those prosecuted have either been wrongly accused or were forced to steer a boat by traffickers but lack of qualified interpreters and difficulties accessing quality legal counsel prevents them from being able to build a defense
7.While awaiting trial, asylum seekers and migrants can spend months, even years, in pre-trial detention because they lack quality legal support and a permanent address in Europe
8.Once cases do go to trial, there are numerous examples of people who have been able to secure quality legal council being found innocent or having their convictions overturned on appeal
9.Criminal prosecutions can make it more difficult for people who are found innocent to access asylum procedures, leaving them little choice other than to become undocumented in Europe or return to their home countries
10. Our reporting focused on those prosecuted on smuggling charges but our findings tell us that in our countries the systematic lack of qualified legal interpreters make it extremely difficult for anyone who doesn’t speak the language to have a fair trial
11. Unlike in the US, the inequalities of the criminal justice system in Europe have gone woefully underreported so far
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