The uniformed men randomly chose two people from the group and said “you are the smugglers”

The respondent, a man from Syria aged 31-45 years old, was part of a transit group consisting of four other Syrian people aged between 17 and 40 years old. They reportedly crossed the border from Turkey to Greece on a dinghy in late 2021 and were apprehended by the authorities in Evros when they reached Greek territory. The respondent recalled two men that spoke Greek dressed in camouflage uniforms approaching them on a jet boat and subsequently bringing their dinghy to shore. Once they reached the shore, the respondent described how the uniformed men randomly chose two people from the group, one of whom was the respondent, and said “you are the smugglers”, insinuating that they were responsible for bringing the rest of the transit group into Greece. The group was then reportedly separated, loaded into a vehicle and driven to what the respondent described as a police station in Didymoteicho. They were reportedly told they were being apprehended because “they were smugglers”. 

After arriving at the station, the two people accused of smuggling were put in one cell while the rest of the group were kept in another cell, recounted the respondent. He described how four men in dark blue/black uniforms with face coverings and no insignias on their uniforms beat him and the other accused man on his arms and legs using batons while telling them “you are the smugglers, you are the smugglers”. He further explained how the brother of the other accused man that was held in the other cell was forced by these uniformed men to say that his brother and the respondent were smugglers.

They were reportedly held in this police station for six hours and were then brought to the court in Orestiada. 

The respondent recalled seeing the other three people from the transit group at the court where they stated, “we didn’t say that you are the smuggler’. The respondent said he was provided with a state lawyer for free. At one point the lawyer began to read a document in front of the court and stated that they [the accused] had admitted to being smugglers whilst in police custody, explained the respondent. The court then reportedly ruled that the respondent’s trial would take place in six months time and he was subsequently taken to Orestiada police station and then to Komotini prison, further on, to the Nafplion prison. The testimony describing the conditions in these facilities can be found here.