The prosecution of two prominent human rights defenders in Greece is a politically motivated attempt to silence their work exposing abuses against migrants, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday, days before Panayote Dimitras and Tommy Olsen are due to stand trial on the island of Rhodes. The pair face charges of forming a criminal organization and facilitating the "unlawful" entry and stay of third-country nationals, offenses that carry up to 20 years in prison.

Table of contents

  1. Who is on trial — and why
  2. What prosecutors allege
  3. Norway refused to hand Olsen over
  4. A wider crackdown on solidarity in Greece
  5. Key takeaways

Who is on trial — and why

Dimitras is the founder and president of the Greek nongovernmental group Greek Helsinki Monitor. Olsen, a Norwegian national, founded the Aegean Boat Report, which for almost nine years has documented arrivals, distress at sea, disappearances and alleged pushbacks in the Aegean — the unlawful, often violent practice of summarily returning asylum seekers across borders, which Greece has been found guilty of by the European Court of Human Rights.

The case concerns activities Greek authorities link to work carried out in July 2021, when the two men were supporting asylum seekers on the island of Kos, helping them access asylum procedures and reporting pushbacks by the Greek authorities, according to Amnesty International.

What prosecutors allege

Dimitras and Olsen are being prosecuted alongside two Cameroonian asylum seekers on charges of "forming or joining for profit and by profession a criminal organization with the purpose of facilitating the entry and stay of third-country nationals into Greek territory."

Human Rights Watch says the indictment effectively seeks to criminalize the defendants' practice of notifying Greek authorities and international bodies of the whereabouts of newly arrived asylum seekers and migrants, precisely so they can access Greece's asylum procedure rather than being pushed back to Türkiye. "The upcoming trial of Panayote Dimitras and Tommy Olsen is a blatant attempt to criminalize and silence their legitimate human rights work," said Eva Cossé, senior Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Prosecutors should drop this politically motivated case against Dimitras and Olsen once and for all."

Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for Europe, Dinushika Dissanayake, called the charges "a gross misuse of anti-smuggling legislation" not backed by evidence, and warned that "for the first time, human rights workers are being referred to trial for helping people access asylum procedures."

Norway refused to hand Olsen over

Olsen was arrested at his home in Tromsø in March 2026 under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Greece. On May 15, Norway's Hålogaland Court of Appeal refused to surrender him: the court concluded the conduct Greece relied on did not satisfy the dual-criminality requirement, and separately found concrete indications of a real risk that the charges would violate his freedom of expression.

That decision ended only the surrender attempt, not the Greek case. The warrant remains active, and the trial in Rhodes is scheduled to go ahead on October 6 — an extraordinary situation in which a Norwegian court examined the underlying allegations and declined to cooperate, while the Greek prosecution continues.

A wider crackdown on solidarity in Greece

The case fits a documented pattern. In January 2026, a Greek court acquitted 24 humanitarian workers after a seven-year legal battle — a prosecution the European Parliament had called the "largest case of criminalization of solidarity in Europe." Recent Greek legislation has further eased the criminalization of civil society organizations involved in aiding migrants and asylum seekers.

Amnesty says Greece has "a long-standing record of going after human rights defenders and criminalizing human rights work," calling this prosecution "a new low." The UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, has said the charges appear to be "in direct retaliation" for Olsen's work and part of a "long-standing and well-documented repression" of rights defenders in Greece.

The question now facing the court in Rhodes reaches beyond two individuals: how much space does Europe leave for those who document what happens at its borders? The answer will be watched from Athens to Brussels.

For broader context on how European states handle migration and rights, see our coverage of EU winter energy planning and US human-rights funding diverted to far-right agendas.

Key takeaways

  • Panayote Dimitras and Tommy Olsen go on trial in Rhodes on October 6, 2026, facing charges of forming a criminal organization and facilitating unlawful entry and stay of migrants.
  • Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International call the prosecution politically motivated and a misuse of anti-smuggling law; conviction could mean up to 20 years in prison.
  • Norway's court of appeal refused in May to surrender Olsen, finding the allegations did not meet dual-criminality standards and risked violating freedom of expression — yet the Greek trial proceeds.
  • The case follows the January acquittal of 24 humanitarian workers in Lesbos, in what the European Parliament called Europe's largest case of criminalized solidarity.