Afghan refugee wrongly jailed in Greece wins thousands of euros in compensation

A Greek court has awarded thousands of euros in compensation to an Afghan refugee who spent more than two years in prison after being wrongfully accused of people smuggling.

A three-member appeal court sitting on the Aegean island of Lesbos ruled that Akif Rasuli had not only been unjustly jailed, but should be recompensed for the ordeal he had been made to endure.

By order of the tribunal, Rasuli, originally sentenced to 50 years before having his conviction overturned, was handed €15,920 in compensation.

“I suffered so much in prison for a crime I haven’t committed,” he told reporters, saying he was far from alone in being wrongfully convicted as a smuggler.

“Money will never give me back the time that has been taken from me, but I am thankful to my lawyers and so many other people who have stood with me for the past three years.”

Rasuli was arrested in September 2020 and accused of “facilitating the entry of illegal immigrants” into Greece.

Campaigners had highlighted Rasuli’s case as typical of the draconian sentences asylum seekers have frequently received after being falsely accused of smuggling undocumented migrants across the Aegean from Turkey.

More than 20% of Greece’s prison population has either been convicted or charged with the offence, according to statistics published by the pro-government Kathimerini newspaper.

Human rights defenders have increasingly raised fair trial concerns, arguing that alleged offenders are often tried on flimsy evidence, at breakneck speed and in the absence of translators.