Freedom for M​.​M. - Woman on trial in Greece for attempted suicide

Freedom for M​.​M. - Woman on trial in Greece for attempted suicide

Started
15 June 2022
Signatures: 226Next Goal: 500
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Why this petition matters

Started by Free M​.​M.

On 8 February 2023, a 29-year-old woman who, in a state of desperation, attempted to burn herself in the notorious Moria 2 camp on the Greek island of Lesvos, now faces trial for arson.

On 21 February 2021, the heavily pregnant M.M. had attempted to take her own life by setting herself on fire at the new Mavrovouni Reception and Identification Centre (also called Kara Tepe or Moria 2) on Lesvos. The neighbouring residents in the camp rescued her from the burning tent and extinguished the fire with water bottles and towels. M.M. suffered injuries all over her body and was taken, under guard, to hospital. 

But instead of providing help and psychological care to the traumatised family, M.M. was charged with 'arson with intent', 'endangering life' as well as with 'damage of an object of common utility by means of fire' after the incident. 

At the time of the desperate act, M.M. had already been living with her husband and three small children in the camp Moria 2 for more than five months under inhuman conditions. The situation in the camp was catastrophic in the winter of 2020/21. The area is close to the sea and completely unsuitable for living: The tents repeatedly collapse or are flooded due to strong winds and heavy rain. There is a lack of medical care, privacy, electricity, running water, hot showers, functioning toilets and other hygiene facilities. As if this was not enough, on 23 January 2021, the Greek government publicly confirmed that dangerous levels of lead had been found in soil samples. 

The prosecution of M.M. for her suicide attempt, which is not punishable under the Greek penal code and is now brutally classified as 'intentional arson', is an escalation of the criminalisation of people seeking protection. It is also a distraction from the responsibility of the Greek state and the EU to ensure adequate living conditions for people seeking protection. Following the same pattern, six young men and teenagers were charged and convicted, without any evidence, for allegedly setting the fire that led to the complete destruction of the original Moria camp in September 2020. (https://freethemoria6.noblogs.org/

Alice, borderline-lesvos: “It is the most incredibly humiliating criminalization case we have ever heard of. A woman, a family in desperate need for help, was screaming for help months before the tragedy happened. They could not survive bringing another child into the world while still being in the camp. She saw no other option than to harm herself in order to escape the stress and pain she was in. We met her after still being in deep pain about the lives of their 4 children... and then the shock: instead of helping the family, the mother of 4 children is charged with arson. Instead of evacuating them many many months before from the horrible conditions they were living in, giving them a safe space to care for a newborn, she was criminalized. ”

We demand a fair and transparent trial on 22 June! This can only lead to an acquittal for M.M.

We stand in solidarity with M.M. and her family and against the deadly European border regime!

We call on the Greek state and the EU to take responsibility for the inhumane camps!

- Stop the criminalisation of refugees and migration!
- Stop the isolation of people on the move at the borders of the EU!
- No more Morias!
- Drop the charges against M.M.!

Get active: SIGN the PETITION: Freedom for M.M. - Woman on trial for attempted suicide in Greece

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Signatures: 226Next Goal: 500
Support now
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