#Case it binder trial

And indeed, I think thatвЂ™s a crucial point. He explains that вЂњin the absence of an official response that views the migration crisis as a loss of life at sea, there is a vacuum that civilian search and rescue must fill.

The rationale and inadequate operation of European border policy was a significant reason for Binder to travel to Greece.

#Case it binder trial

Uncertainty remains about the application of this humanitarian exemption, as well as the charges that will be dealt with at the trial on the basis that the Writ of Summons given to Binder just relates to the misdemeanour charges. However, the directive does not require member states to exempt humanitarian actors from prosecution. Legislative standards to combat migrant smuggling, or facilitation, were set by an EU directive in 2002. Three years after his release from pre-trial detention, a trial date has been announced вЂ“ today, November 18th. He explains that вЂњit has been quite debilitating and so I do view it as a form of punishment. ThereвЂ™s just no evidence positive or negative, that the amount of search and rescue orders in that body of water have any impact on the amount of boats passing through, the amount of people seeking asylumДЇor Binder, his mechanism for dealing with the uncertainty is to not dwell on the prospect of the trial or imprisonment. If you look at this in the broader context, the real purpose of these kinds of prosecutions is not to find us guilty вЂ“ we canвЂ™t be found guilty, we did nothing wrong вЂ“ it is to act as a chill factor, it is to disincentivise other people from engaging in search and rescue efforts at EuropeвЂ™s borders.вЂќ

But on the other hand, the punishment really is the not knowing. Having spent the last three years in the investigative phase of his case, without progression, the uncertainty is what Binder struggles with: вЂњThe fact that we havenвЂ™t moved forward on the one hand is very good. Binder jokes that the final charge вЂњis technically a childhood dream of mine come true, but not in the way that IвЂ™d hopedвЂќ.Д«inder and his co-defendant Mardini face 25 yearsвЂ™ imprisonment. Binder and Mardini were detained in Greece for 106 days.ДЄmong the charges he faces are facilitation, which is the involuntary transfer of people across a border without a profit motive, membership of a criminal organisation, money laundering, fraud and espionage. An investigation was opened and they were arrested again in August. They were questioned and detained over a 48-hour period before being released. In an effort to prevent humanitarian workers overstepping their mandate, Binder and celebrated humanitarian activist Sarah Mardini were arrested in February 2018. At that primary entry point for migrants, Binder spent months with the International Emergency Response Center (ERCI) вЂ“ which is no longer operational вЂ“ working in conjunction with the under-resourced authorities, including FRONTEX, the European border control agency.ДЄlthough he was aware of the heightened programme of border securitisation, he could not have anticipated what happened next. When Trinity graduate SeГЎn Binder made the decision to travel to the Greek island of Lesbos as the migrant crisis deepened there, his primary concern was to assist the maritime search and rescue team in any way he could.