Seán Binder has described his acquittal on several serious charges in a Greek court as “an enormous relief”.
Mr Binder, who was born in Germany but raised in Co Kerry, and 23 other humanitarians were found not guilty on Thursday of people smuggling, belonging to a criminal organisation and money laundering.
He travelled to the Greek island of Lesbos in late 2017 to volunteer with the Emergency Response Centre, an NGO involved in search and rescue missions.
In 2018, he and 23 other volunteers were charged with a series of offences. The trial was delayed on several occasions.
“For seven years, we have had this threat of 20 years’ imprisonment hang over our heads,” Mr Binder said on Friday.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said “there wasn’t a shred of evidence” against him or the other volunteers.
“The foundation of the smuggling charge was that we did search and rescue. The accusation of spying was that we used WhatsApp. The fact that we were charged [with] money laundering stems from the fact that we raised money to buy laundry machines. It was farcical.
“The only real outcome of all of this is that it has stopped people from engaging in search and rescue. It has been enough to scare them away from the shoreline, and that’s the point.”
Seán Binder (second left), Pieter Wittenberg, Nasos Karakitsos and Sarah Mardini leave the courthouse in Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos on Thursday. Photograph: Manolis Lagoutaris/AFP/Getty
The case was widely criticised by human rights groups, who called on Greek authorities to drop the charges.
Mr Binder, an experienced diver, explained the type of work he did with the NGO.
“From midnight to 7am we had done something called a spotting shift – standing at a cliff face, just looking out and listening, listening for people’s screams or little lights that would indicate there’s a boat in distress, and if there was, we would go out to sea or provide medical assistance at the shoreline.”
Mr Binder, who spent more than 100 days in pretrial detention, said his life has been “on pause” since he was indicted.
“I have been unable to continue with my life in many respects, although when I went to prison and I met people who were even more adversely affected by the criminal justice system, it encouraged me to retrain as a barrister.”
He said that while deciding to become a barrister “has been a positive step”, his indictment meant he has been unable to work or “save to have children or a family”.
Despite the personal toll the situation has taken on him, he said the “far more important” consequence is that fewer search and rescue operations are happening due to fear of prosecution.
“People drown because there is less search and rescue happening.”
Mr Binder thanked his family and friends, many of whom were in court on Thursday, and the wider Irish community for their “tremendous” support.
He said he convinced his family to celebrate the verdict by swimming in the sea last night.
“They very, very reluctantly were swimming with me last night in the dark.”