After seven years of legal hell, a Greek court finally admitted that pulling drowning people out of the ocean isn't actually a crime. Twenty-four volunteers from the Emergency Response Centre International walked free recently after a judge in Lesvos tossed out charges that had been hanging over their heads since 2018. The magistrate, Vassilis Papathanassiou, ruled that waiting to save lives doesn't equal smuggling and that none of the accused tried to sneak anyone past border checks. He decided their goal was purely to offer help, not to run some underground mob, noting the evidence failed to prove any shady intent.
Prosecutors had thrown the book at these rescue workers, alleging they were spies, money launderers, and members of a...