Sea rescue in Greece: Trial against sea rescuers begins

The trial of activists from the NGO Aegean Boat Report (ABR), Tommy Olsen and Panayote Dimitras, begins on Tuesday on the Greek island of Rhodes. The judiciary accuses them of founding or participating in a criminal organization and of commercially aiding and abetting illegal entry and stay in several cases. You face up to 20 years in prison.

The Norwegian Olsen, who lives in Tromsø, is the founder of ABR. The NGO has been monitoring human rights in the Aegean since 2017 and primarily documents the so-called pushbacks, i.e. the often violent, illegal pushbacks of refugees, which have been increasing in the sea area for years. Panayote Dimitras is also a member of the Greek human rights organization Helsinki Monitor. The two deny the allegations.

Specifically, on July 21, 2022, Olsen - with Dimitras' knowledge - is said to have received data via WhatsApp from an informant in Turkey about a planned boat crossing to Greece by a total of eight people from Congo, Benin, Cameroon, Togo and Ghana. Based on this information, he is said to have supported the group in initiating their asylum procedures and thus facilitated their illegal entry into Greece. Olsen had passed the data on to the authorities. Because he did this in his capacity as a paid head of the NGO Aegean Boat Report, the help was “commercial”.

Olsen said he had not done anything illegal, but had only provided humanitarian aid. ABR answered emergency calls from people who were at sea and looking for help. His NGO has “systematically recorded violations of the rights of refugees by the Greek authorities,” particularly regarding illegal returns and pushbacks.

Greece issued a European arrest warrant against Olsen in December 2025. In March 2026, Norwegian police arrested Olsen at his home in Tromsø. He was initially released after four days in custody. Then, in May 2026, the Hålogaland Court of Appeal in Norway rejected Greece's extradition request. The court said that the allegations made by the Greek judiciary were not punishable under Norwegian law.

If human rights defenders are prosecuted for documenting what is happening at Europe's borders while pushbacks continue with impunity, it sends "a clear message to everyone who does this work: keep quiet or risk being accused yourself," says Olsen.

The prosecution has “the sole aim of harassing us and severely restricting our work to document human rights violations at the Greek borders,” said co-defendant Dimitras. The procedure “stigmatized” him and prevented him from traveling abroad for more than three years.

Dinushika Dissanayake of Amnesty International called the case against Olsen and Dimitras a “gross abuse of anti-smuggling legislation.” The allegations lacked any evidence. “Both are being targeted because of their work documenting serious human rights violations against migrants and refugees.” The Greek authorities have long been known for persecuting human rights defenders and criminalizing human rights work.

Olsen's case marks a new low, said Dissanayake. “For the first time, human rights activists are being brought to justice for helping people gain access to asylum procedures.” Calling this smuggling is “a distortion of international and national law” and a “dangerous defamation of the valuable work of NGOs”.

The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, called the persecution of Olsen “unacceptable”.

Greece has been pursuing an increasingly restrictive migration policy course since 2019, which was further tightened in 2025. The criminal offense of aiding and abetting illegal entry has also been increasingly expanded in the EU. Such proceedings often end in acquittal or dismissal. Until then, those affected are often burdened with the proceedings for years, risk pre-trial detention and high procedural costs and have to reckon with loss of earnings or job loss.