Court convicts 21 people for 2018 attack against migrants on Lesvos
A first-instance court in Mytilini, Lesvos, convicted 21 people for an April 2018 attack against migrants camping in Mytilini’s Sappho Square.
The court sentenced two of the defendants to six years of imprisonment each for multiple offenses, including threats and dangerous bodily harm with racist motives.
Another two defendants were sentenced to five years and nine months of imprisonment for dangerous bodily harm, also with racist motives.
The sentences were suspended for three years and are convertible to a fine of 5 euros per day.
Another 16 defendants were found guilty of disruption of public peace and were sentenced to one year of imprisonment each, while one received a nine-month imprisonment sentence for the same offense, due to his youthful age at the time of the crime.
This is the first time that a court in Mytilini has formally recognized racist motives in a crime.
The attack took place in the early hours of April 23, 2018, after migrants had camped for around a week in Mytilini’s Sappho Square to protest the conditions in the Moria camp. A mob of around 200 people attacked their camp, injuring several migrants and prompting the police to transfer them back to Moria.
