Four senior figures in the Greek coastguard, including its current commander, are to face criminal prosecution for negligent manslaughter in connection with a 2023 migrant boat disaster in which up to 650 people are thought to have drowned.
The fishing boat Adriana went down off the Greek coast near Pylos. Survivors told the BBC that the vessel capsized after coastguards made a botched attempt to tow it.
Greek authorities have always denied any wrongdoing over the shipwreck.
Now a prosecutor at the naval appeal court in Piraeus has recommended that the current head of the Hellenic coastguard, Vice Adm Tryfon Kontizas, and three other senior officers should go on trial.
Among the charges cited by the court of appeal are manslaughter by negligence in international waters but within Greece's rescue zone, exposure by negligence with a legal obligation to rescue people that resulted in death and repeated exposure by omission of other people to danger.
The Adriana had left Libya for Italy in June 2023 and was monitored by a Greek patrol vessel for 15 hours off Pylos before it went down. Survivors later revealed that the coastguard had caused the boat to sink by towing it away too quickly.
Although only 82 bodies were recovered, hundreds more people are believed to have died.
Earlier this year, prosecutors at the maritime court in Piraeus decided that 17 members of the Greek coastguard should face charges, including the captain of the coastguard ship and the then-head of the coastguard, Vice Adm Giorgos Alexandrakis. However, they cleared Kontizas and three other senior officers of blame.
This decision has been challenged by lawyers for survivors and relatives of the victims.
Greece has stated that it fully respects human rights and has rescued more than 250,000 people at sea over the past decade.
