Presiding judge Eftichia Kontaratou’s decision came shortly after the start of the trial in the southern Greek city of Kalamata and was met with cheers and applause from the defendants’ supporters in the courtroom. More than 500 people are estimated to have drowned when the overcrowded fishing vessel capsized en route from Libya to Italy. Just 104 people were rescued from the “Adriana” – all men, the vast majority from Syria, Pakistan and Egypt – and 82 bodies were recovered. Prosecutors have accused the defendants, mostly in their 20s, of being part of the crew of the trawler – something the defence denies – and therefore responsible for the mistreatment of passengers and the overcrowded conditions which authorities say led to the boat capsizing and sinking. The nine men faced possible life sentences if convicted of the multiple felony charges against them, including human trafficking and causing a deadly shipwreck. The judge’s decision followed a recommendation by public prosecutor Ekaterini Tsironi that the case be thrown out because the sinking took place outside Greek territorial waters. “It is evident that the shipwreck occurred in international waters and … the jurisdiction of Greek courts cannot be established,” she said. “I propose they are acquitted.” The case has been criticized by international human rights groups, who argued that the defendants’ right to a fair trial was compromised because they were being tried while a separate investigation by a Naval Court into the sinking and the actions of the Greek coastguard was ongoing. Spyros Pantazis, one of the defence lawyers, said the court had “done justice today”. It was not immediately clear when the nine, who have been in custody since last year, would be released. Earlier, a small group of protesters clashed with riot police outside the court. There were no reports of serious injuries but two people were arrested. Special forces police maintained order inside the courtroom. At the start of the trial, Kontaratou questioned the nine defendants through an interpreter. They said they had intended to travel to Italy, not Greece, and several declared their innocence. Kontaratou acknowledged that the vessel “had no Greeks on board, was not flying a Greek flag and all the documents say the ship was 47 nautical miles away”. The sinking has renewed pressure on European governments to do more to protect the lives of migrants and asylum seekers trying to reach the continent, as the number of people making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean continues to rise each year. The prosecution based its case on the testimonies of nine other survivors. Defence lawyers argued that the witness accounts had been coerced and that their clients were fare-paying passengers who had been made scapegoats by authorities anxious to blame the sinking on overcrowding. Several survivors have alleged that the sinking occurred after the Greek coastguard tried to tow the vessel. The exact circumstances of the sinking remain unclear. The EU’s border protection agency Frontex says illegal crossings at the bloc’s borders rose for a third consecutive year in 2023, reaching their highest level since the 2015-16 migration crisis, driven largely by arrivals at sea borders. Read Also: Three missing and 42 rescued in a shipwreck on the Greek island of Crete (Portuguese version)