The incident caused the death of a refugee, a husband and father of three children, and serious injuries to several others.

The prosecutor of the Court of Appeal ordered the prosecutor of the Piraeus Maritime Court to bring criminal proceedings against the captain of the Coast Guard vessel for manslaughter with possible intent, serial serious bodily harm and serial dangerous bodily harm.

As the Greek Council for Refugees explained in its statement, the Court of Appeal prosecutor ruled that there are ‘specific indications’ and ‘reasonable suspicions’ that the Coast Guard vessel rammed the refugee boat, and that the captain of the Coast Guard vessel foresaw that his action would cause death or serious bodily harm and accepted that possibility.

Criminal proceedings and a main investigation are now expected.

Maria Papamina and Alkistis Agrafioti, the victims’ lawyers from the Legal Service of the Greek Council for Refugees, stated: ‘This legal development is particularly important, as the Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal took into account, among other elements of the case file, the allegations of the victims, which are based on common sense, and was not convinced by the official and absurd narrative of the Coast Guard, according to which the alleged operator of the overloaded inflatable boat supposedly tried to ram the ultra-modern and larger Coast Guard vessel. Instead, the prosecutor concluded that there is a reasonable suspicion that the Coast Guard captain intentionally rammed the refugee boat.

‘We also want to note that this case presents similar characteristics to the more recent case of the ramming of a refugee boat in Chios, in February 2026, with 15 dead and many injured, for which an investigation is being conducted into alleged criminal acts by the Coast Guard.’

‘Finally, let us not forget that this development comes in the wake of the criminal prosecution of 21 Coast Guard officers for the Pylos shipwreck, which caused many deaths, while ineffective criminal investigations have led to dozens of other cases being shelved, without justice being served to the victims,’ the Greek Council for Refugees also noted.

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