Greek authorities have tried to hide their role in the sinking that killed more than 500 people in the Mediterranean this month, doctoring evidence to omit the fact that they tried to tow the ship shortly before it sank.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex, had already warned of the risk of sinking and offered assistance to Athens, but received no response from the Greek authorities.
Rather than launch a rescue operation, the coast guard identified the overcrowded ship and followed it from a helicopter. Commercial ships were sent to the area and later replaced by a coast guard ship. Shortly after, the boat carrying migrants capsized and sank.
The Greek government denies any responsibility in the accident and the authorities assure that the ship was not towed, but the investigation by the European consortium of journalists Lighthouse Reports believes that the coast guard omitted statements collected hours after the sinking.
Nine survivors were heard by a translator who belongs to the coast guard itself and according to the testimonies collected, none of them blamed the authorities for the accident, but when questioned in court, six people from the same group said that the boat sank shortly time. after coast guards tied a rope to the boat and tried to pull it out.
Two of these witnesses assured Lighthouse Reports journalists that they did not change their testimony and that they said in court the same thing that they told the coast guard translator.
“They asked what happened to the boat and how it sank. I said that when the Greek coast guard arrived they tied a rope to our boat and towed us away, causing it to sink,” said a survivor. “They didn’t write that in my statement. When they sent the final text, I couldn’t find that part.”
The same thing happened with another witness heard by the consortium of journalists, who adds that despite having seen that the transcript of his testimony was incomplete, he signed it because he was “terrified.”
Another 16 of the 17 migrants heard by the consortium of journalists say that there was an attempt to tow the boat, and four of them say that the objective was to take it to Italian waters. Others report that the coast guard boat circled the ship, causing waves and contributing to the accident.
The ship with 750 people, mostly from Pakistan, Egypt and Syria, capsized on the night of June 14 off the coast of the Peloponnese peninsula. Only 104 survived.
Source: TSF
