We are delighted to announce that Seán Binder is our keynote speaker at the OMSS conference this May.
📌 Grab your tickets now: https://lnkd.in/etPaSV7y
Seán is a strong advocate for migrant rights who was arrested in August 2018 for a number of serious criminal offences connected to migrant search and rescue work he carried out as a volunteer for a humanitarian NGO in Lesbos, Greece. Following his arrest, he spent 106 days in pre-trial detention in a Greek prison. He was charged with a number of serious criminal offences including facilitation of illegal entry (smuggling), money laundering, espionage and membership in a criminal organisation.
In January this year, the defendants were cleared of all misdemeanour charges; an important win for humanity. However, this case is far from over. Seán and the other defendants still face felony charges, which if found guilty of, could result 20 years in jail. These possible charges are based on a misrepresentation of the search-and-rescue group’s humanitarian operations as human smuggling by a criminal organization, and mischaracterizes legitimate fund-raising activities by the group, which was a registered non-profit organization, as money laundering. Seán’s co-accused include Sara Mardini, whose story featured in the Netflix documentary film ‘The Swimmers’.
This case represents a criminalisation of solidarity; saving lives is not a crime. The work of the defendants was at all times humanitarian, motivated by the desire to save lives at sea. This case is demonstrative of a wider policy of deterrence of asylum seekers across Europe, in which people are not only criminalised for seeking asylum themselves, but also for acting in solidarity with these peoples.
It is an honour to have Seán speak at our conference, who has at all times worked in the name of human rights and justice. He is currently training to become a barrister.