Press release – Freedom for Homayoun

Homayoun Sabetara has been innocently kept in prison in Greece for more than three years. Like thousands of others, he is unlawfully accused of driving his own getaway car across the Greek border to apply for asylum. Ahead of his appeal trial on 24 September, 70 organizations, including LeaveNoOneBehind, Borderline Europe and Sea-Watch, are calling 70 civil society organizationsincluding Leave No One Behind, Sea-Watch and Borderline Europe, are calling for his release and an end to the criminalization of refugees in Europe.Mahtab Sabetara, daughter of Homayoun: “I am simply afraid that my father will die in prison. I only hope that he will be acquitted on Tuesday. My father is innocent. No one seeking asylum belongs in prison.”, Mahtab Sabetara, daughter of Homayoun.

Homayoun Sabetara, a 60-year-old widower, fled Iran in the summer of 2021 to apply for asylum in Europe. But he never could. After Homayoun was stranded with a group of refugees in a forest in northern Greece, he was forced to drive the transport car across the border. The car however was stopped by the Greek police. Although he fled himself and tried to seek protection in the EU, he was arrested and charged. The trial observation ruled, however: “The evidence was insufficient and the proceedings were unlawful.” A systematic approach, as a study by Borderline Europe proves.

After 576 days in custody, the appeal trial was due to take place in Thessaloniki on April 22, 2024. However, the court postponed the trial by five months without further ado. Homayoun Sabetara had to go back to prison. He hopes that the date on 24.9. will be kept.

“Homayoun Sabatera doesn’t belong in prison. Seeing him there last week was a shock for me. If this is how Europe treats people in need, old people seeking safety, sick people who want to see their families, then the EU has lost the values on which it was founded,” says Sabetara’s lawyer Dimitris Choulis,

Homayoun Sabetara is not an isolated case. In Greece alone, there are currently over 2,000 innocent refugees in prison. They wanted to apply for asylum in Europe, but despite a lack of evidence, they were arrested on average as alleged smugglers and sentenced to 46 years in prison.
Um auf dieses Unrecht aufmerksam zu machen, gründete Mahtab Sabetara die Kampagne #FreeHomayoun. We therefore demand:

1. The immediate release of Homayoun Sabetara on September 24
2. The release of all unlawfully detained refugees
3. The end of all criminalization procedures for asylum seekers in the EU