To Greek authorities, he is the nefarious Norwegian mastermind of an international criminal organisation “operationally structured to commit repeated crimes”, which he secretly controls from his hometown of Tromso, north of the Arctic Circle.
asserted
he → structure → Circle
To thousands of distressed asylum seekers on the Aegean, he is a hero who may have saved their lives by publicly alerting search and rescue authorities who might rather not have known of their whereabouts.
uncertain
who → save → whereabouts
A Greek court will open trial proceedings on Tuesday against Tommy Olsen to decide who is right.
asserted
who → open → Olsen
When contacted, he alerts the Greek or Turkish asylum service and coastguard, depending on whose jurisdiction the refugees find themselves in.
asserted
refugees → contact → themselves
The public prosecutor on the island of Kos, in the east Aegean, has accused Olsen of conspiring to smuggle refugees into Greece and to conceal them from authorities.
asserted
prosecutor → accuse → authorities
Olsen won’t be at the Kos court because Norwegian authorities thought the evidence against him too flimsy to grant extradition.
asserted
evidence → think → extradition
“They looked at what the Greek authorities described I had done, and they said, ‘There’s nothing illegal here.
asserted
they → look → what
It’s actually protected activities
asserted
It → protect → ?
,’” Olsen told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Olsen → tell → Jazeera
“When I inform Greek authorities of asylum seekers in their territory, on land, and give them their location, their names, and everything, that, supposedly, should be a good thing…
asserted
that → inform → location
But this the Greek authorities see as facilitating,” Olsen said.
asserted
Olsen → see → facilitating
The case is important far beyond the fate of Olsen, 54, who could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
uncertain
who → face → prison
Human rights organisations see it as Greece’s latest attempt to silence independent monitors of human rights abuses, for which the country has previously been convicted at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
asserted
country → see → Rights
“The ECHR asked us to confirm certain testimonies that featured in cases before it, and since then, those decisions have condemned Greece for pushbacks,” said Maria Gavouneli, head of the Greek National Committee for Human Rights, the country’s top independent human rights authority.
asserted
Gavouneli → ask → Rights
Under the Geneva Convention of 1951, signatories, including Greece, are obliged to provide an asylum hearing to anyone who requests one.
asserted
who → include → one
Aegean Boat Report is one of a group of organisations which provide verified evidence for ECHR cases.
asserted
which → provide → cases
“We’ve asked NGOs in the field … to provide information about pushbacks.
asserted
We → ask → pushbacks
This is a signed witness statement that can stand up in court.
asserted
that → sign → court
We record these and we can help the witness go to the prosecutor,” Gavouneli told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Gavouneli → record → Jazeera
Evidence provided by Aegean Boat Report has also helped shed light on at least two dozen instances of improper practices employed by the Hellenic Coastguard.
asserted
Evidence → provide → Coastguard
Last month, the Council of Europe, Europe’s principal human rights body, said retraining of Greek law enforcement officers and other measures “do not yet appear adequate to comprehensively address the ‘systematic practice of “pushbacks”‘ identified by the [ECHR], while serious concerns continue to be raised in this regard by a large number of different sources”.
asserted
concerns → say → sources
Ultimately, Greece can face the suspension of European Union funding if it fails to provide “genuine and effective access to international protection procedures”.
asserted
it → face → procedures
That, said Olsen’s lawyer, is why Aegean Boat Report’s work is undesirable from the perspective of Greek authorities.
asserted
work → say → authorities
They harass the organisations and humanitarians to get them away from the border so there can’t be any record of irregular or illegal coastguard practices,” Zacharias Kesses, the managing partner of Athens Legal Firm, told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Kesses → harass → Jazeera
Greek governments have long tried to prove that certain aid groups help to smuggle people into Greece.
asserted
groups → try → Greece
In the last eight years, prosecutors have shut down two organisations by arresting their members and charging them with trafficking and espionage.
asserted
prosecutors → shut → trafficking
But in January, all 30 members of Emergency Response Centre International, a Greek search and rescue group, were acquitted of charges similar to Olsen’s.
asserted
members → acquit → Olsen
Smuggling charges against Mare Liberum, a German search and rescue group, were also shelved for lack of evidence this year.
asserted
charges → smuggle → evidence
Still, both organisations were shut down.
asserted
organisations → shut → ?
“They force you to stop doing what you’re doing and spend money to clear your name.
asserted
you → force → name
It took Sarah Mardini eight years to be acquitted, with all the help she was receiving,” said Kesses, who has represented all three groups.
asserted
who → take → groups
Despite the fact that there has never been a smuggling conviction, the suspicion persists in the minds of Greek officials.
asserted
suspicion → persist → officials
Last February, the government passed a law that cuts off public funding to an entire aid group if any one of its members is merely accused of a felony.
asserted
one → pass → felony
Defending the bill in parliament, Minister of Migration Thanos Plevris said aid groups that receive funding cannot justify the use of volunteers.
asserted
that → defend → volunteers
“If you receive money, you cannot have volunteers.
asserted
you → receive → volunteers
Your people get paid legally from government money and European Union money.
asserted
people → pay → money
They’re not volunteers,” Plevris said.
asserted
Plevris → ’re → ?
“If they’re not getting paid, they’re using their access to rejected asylum seekers in camps.
asserted
they → pay → camps
I don’t want them to say, ‘Don’t worry, meet me here at night and I’ll help you get to Athens.’
asserted
you → want → Athens
Even though Greece doesn’t control any of Olsen’s funding, it has cut it off.
asserted
it → control → it
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
