Athens, Greece – It was in April 2022 that Homayoun Sabetala finally told his daughters he was in a prison cell in Greece.
Sabetala, an Iranian national, was arrested in Thessaloniki in August 2021 after driving his car across the Turkish-Greece border.
Sabetala said he was forced to drive to Greece and transport seven other people found inside the car. In September 2022, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for smuggling, a move that campaigners said was unfair and that Savetala did not fully understand.
His daughter Mahtab Sabetala is now focused on raising awareness of the appeals trial, which begins on Monday in Thessaloniki, and on the plight of other asylum seekers who are apparently in the same position.
Mahtab Sabetala told Al Jazeera over the phone from Germany, where he lives, “It's very difficult to go through this myself and to understand that this is the fate of many people currently in prison on the same charges.'' It was shocking,” he said.
“Of course I thought it would be good for my father, as it would raise awareness of his trial and at the same time shed light on other lesser-known cases. ”
Mahtab Sabetala said he wanted to push for greater political change.
“It's not just an isolated thing. This is a systemic problem that affects many people and is directly related to European immigration policy,” she said.
“I always give this example: when the Ukraine war started and, for example, German people went to the Polish border and put some people in their cars, those people were never called smugglers. The important thing is that , that these people were doing something moral.”
She added that “the fact is that most of the so-called smugglers are actually people on the move, and in many cases they had no other choice.''
Mahtab Sabetala said since her father was arrested, she has struggled to fully understand what is happening to her and why he is in prison.
“He fled Iran at the point when he had no other choice. He never expected it to turn out like this.”
The European Commission has made tackling smuggling one of its top priorities and has proposed legislation to pursue smugglers in 2023.
“We are stepping up our fight against migrant smuggling and protecting our people from falling into the hands of criminals,” European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said in November. “We're not after smugglers, we're after smugglers.”
But rights activists have long argued that innocent people are always caught up in this crackdown, with refugees and migrants caught forcibly behind the wheel of boats and cars facing long prison sentences. We have cited examples from various parts of Europe. position.
Dimitris Choulis of the legal aid organization Human Rights Legal Project will be one of the lawyers representing Homayoun Sabetala in court.
“My first hope is that there will be a fair trial, a trial that respects all procedural laws, and my second hope is that Homayoun be released from prison and reunited with his family,” he told Al Jazeera.
Choulis, who is based on the Greek island of Samos, one of the main maritime arrival points for Greek refugees and migrants, said he has seen several cases in which asylum seekers have been unfairly accused of being smugglers. .
“What is exceptional about this case is that two members of Mr. Homayoun's family found the means and strength to fight against injustice,” he said.
“It's really important to understand that all these people have names, that they have families, and that they're not just statistics.”
A 2023 report by the NGO Borderline Europe notes that people convicted of smuggling in Greek prisons form the second largest group, with around 90% of them being foreign nationals. did.
Sometimes people hold me accountable because I'm the only English speaker in a group.
In a statement to Al Jazeera, European Parliament member Eric Marquardt of the Green Party and European Freedom Alliance, who commissioned the report, said the Greek government had “deliberately misused laws” aimed at combating human trafficking. We are persecuting and punishing criminals.” They flee to the coast in search of protection. ”
“This dangerous deterrence strategy is not about punishing criminals, but criminalizing migrants. They are attacking their country's rule of law and endangering its democracy.”
Greek ministers have consistently defended “tough but fair” migration policies and spoken of the importance of tackling people smugglers and smuggling networks to protect Greece's borders.
At the time of publication, Greek authorities had not responded to Al Jazeera's request for comment.
Meanwhile, Mahtab Sabetala continues to campaign for her father's innocence, remembering the humorous man she used to play chess with.
“He's a very positive person,” she said. “Or he used to be a very positive person.”