Greek court drops charges in migrant shipwreck case

KALAMATA, Greece: A Greek court on Tuesday dropped charges against nine Egyptians over one of the Mediterranean´s worst migrant shipwrecks in which rights groups said they had been made scapegoats for the failures of the Greek coastguard in the deaths of more than 600 people.

The hearing in Kalamata, southwestern Greece, finished in just over three hours. The state prosecutor accepted the defence argument, urged the court to drop the charges and the nine were acquitted. The suspects were detained hours after the rusty and overloaded trawler Adriana sank on the night of June 13-14 last year. It was carrying more than 750 people, according to the United Nations, but only 82 bodies were found.

The nine Egyptians -- who were among the 104 survivors -- had faced charges including negligent homicide, participating in a criminal organisation and facilitating illegal entry into the country.

The men, aged 21 to 37 years old, would have faced life imprisonment if convicted. Defence lawyers argued that a Greek court cannot try the case as the accident occurred in international waters.