High Court refuses to surrender man accused of human trafficking to Greek authorities

Stephen Bourke

The High Court has refused to surrender a Limerick man to authorities in Greece, where he is wanted on human trafficking charges, after his lawyers objected to extradition on the basis of conditions in the prison system there.

Barristers for Jeremiah O’Brien (56), who is alleged to have attempted to facilitate the smuggling of 66 Middle Eastern people to Italy by speedboat, previously told the High Court that overcrowding in one Greek prison had been recorded at 164%.

It is alleged that Mr O’Brien, of Yellow Brick House, Roche’s Road, Rathkeale, Limerick, and two other named persons acted jointly on November 22nd, 2017, to facilitate the transportation of 66 people, without life jackets, from an unknown desert place near Nafplio, Greece, towards Italy.

That evening it was discovered that the boat had stranded on a rocky shore near Gyalia beach close to Gerolimenas, Greece.

When Mr O’Brien was first brought before the court last November, Detective Garda Tony Keane gave evidence that the 66 people were 30 adult men (24 from Iraq, four from Syria, and two from Iran), 14 adult women (12 from Iraq, one from Syria, and one from Iran), and 22 children (12 boys from Iraq, one boy from Iran, five girls from Iraq, two girls from Syria, and two girls from Iran).

Det Gda Keane said that these 66 people paid between 4,000 and 6,000 US dollars each.

When Mr O’Brien came before the High Court in January, counsel for the State, Brian Gageby BL, told the court that the boat used was for pleasure purposes and had capacity for 10 people, with no life jackets on board, meaning there was a risk of it sinking due to overloading.

He said it was alleged that Mr O’Brien had placed the occupants of the boat in intentional danger, meaning this came under the offence of endangerment.

On behalf of Mr O’Brien, Simon Matthews BL said that his objection to the application for extradition was due to the conditions in Greek prisons.

In January, Mr Matthews told the High Court that those in custody in Greek prisoners are held in conditions that are “an affront to their human dignity”. Last month, he submitted that jails there are effectively “being run by the prisoners” due to overcrowding.

Mr Justice Seán Gillane said it had been agreed that a letter would be sent to the Greek authorities asking them to respond to the concerns raised about the conditions in which the respondent would be detained if extradited.

Mr Justice Gillane said on Friday that his decision was to refuse surrender.

The judge said his reasoning for declining the extradition was set out in his written ruling, which was distributed to the parties.

In June, Mr Matthews cited a 2022 report by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture which identified overcrowding, a lack of space, inter-prisoner violence, intimidation and an overall unsafe environment in Greek prisons.