By Faris Rifai
(Zaman al-Wasl) Noor al-Samah, a young man from Syria, is being held in a Greek prison after he was sentenced to 300 years imprisonment for smuggling and human trafficking. For al-Samah both the sentence and its length are absurd as someone who was arrested without evidence and who never participated in smuggling or human trafficking.
Al-Samah, born in the city of al-Salamiyah, had just finished his degree in public administration at a private university in Syria in 2014. To avoid his mandatory military service and not have to participate in the war in Syria, he decided to go to Turkey. In Turkey, he spent several days without shelter and struggled to find work that would enable him to achieve his dream of a new life. He subsequently decided to continue to Greece.
Speaking to Zaman al-Wasl, he explained that he was set up by the smugglers as they let him travel for free in return for him agreeing to call the coastguards for help if something bad happened while the boat was en route. The smugglers assigned him the task as he speaks English fluently. The boat broke down in the middle of the sea and fearing for their lives, al-Samah called for help from the coastguard and a boat passing in the Greek territorial waters responded to their SOS call.
The boat’s captain informed al-Samah and his travel companions that the boat was headed for Malta, but they were surprised a few hours later to find they were heading towards Greece, to Peraia port on the Greek coast and that they were accompanied by German commandos. After they arrived there, the Greek coast guard searched all the passengers and arrested the Turkish smuggler and al-Samah.
They beat the Turkish smuggler, insulted and cursed him and they blindfolded al-Samah. They book them both a local police station as al-Samah found out when he found himself held alongside the Turkish smuggler. Al-Samah explained that the smuggler got out of the prison after a short period because he had money on him, and the police continued to hold him because he did not have money to pay for his release. His lack of financial means also affected his trial.
Al-Samah’s case went to court and the first court ended on June 10, 2016. He explained that the female judge sentenced him to imprisonment for over 300 years according to what the lawyer appointed by the state to defend his case explained to him. Al-Samah explained that the state appointed lawyer did not defend his case because he had no money to pay and the lawyer left al-Samah’s fate to the unknown. Al-Samah is taking his case to the Appeals Court in Greece to fight the unjust sentence and challenge the ruling. He added that his that his parents do not know even until this time that he received such a long sentence.
Regarding support from rights organizations, al-Samah explained that he tried to reach out to the public through various human rights organizations, institutions, and local and regional networks that deal with human rights issues, but he did not receive any response or support for his case.
“Humanity, in my point of view, is a lie that does not go beyond the limits of reason, and some have invented it to market a commodity,” he said with his voice breaking down.
In his final few words to Zaman al-Wasl, al-Samah revealed that he met many prisoners who were similarly charged during his stay in various prisons in Greece. He added that some of those who have been charged spent more than eight years behind the bars without any concrete evidence against them.
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