On Monday, March 16, Tommy Olsen was arrested at his home in Tromso, Norway, following an international arrest warrant issued by Greece, according to Norwegian media.
Since 2017, Olsen has run the NGO Aegean Boat Report, which reportedly helps refugees arriving by boat in Greece. For this work, he was, among other things, nominated for the Tromso Person of the Year award.
According to the newspaper “vg.no”, he is accused by Greek authorities of espionage, human smuggling and criminal activity, with these charges carrying a sentence of up to 15 years in prison in Greece. On Monday night, the Tromso Court of First Instance ruled that Olsen can be extradited to Greece.
Olsen’s lawyer, Brinulf Rishness says they will appeal the decision. “In our opinion, obviously there are no grounds for extradition,” he said initially, adding: “We had hoped that the court would look at the matter a little more thoroughly. They are right in that it takes a lot to refuse extradition to another European country, but there is a limit nonetheless. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be investigated. That is where the court’s biggest mistake lies. In order to decide whether there are fundamental errors in the extradition request, it has to delve deep enough into the matter and the case. We believe the court did not do so to a sufficient degree.”
The court also ruled that Olsen will remain in custody for one week as his release would pose a flight risk from the country.
“Olsen believes he has done nothing illegal under Greek law, has only been involved in humanitarian aid and has received requests from people in danger who need advice on how to get to safety. He has cooperated significantly with the Greek and Turkish coastguard, for example” his lawyer also states.
Prosecutor, Bent Strand responded to Rishness that “Under the European Arrest Warrant, which has been signed by all EU countries, it is stipulated that we should not question foreign authorities, but respect their own judicial systems. Therefore, in the Norwegian judicial system we must rely on their suspicions, unless we consider them to be manifestly wrong. We have looked into the matter and found nothing that seems obviously wrong, none of the mandatory grounds for rejection are met.”
Speaking to VG, he also says Olsen may also be placed under house arrest: “The flight risk is for Greece, we don’t believe he needs to be in a solitary confinement cell in Norway.”
Olsen admitted at the hearing that he was in Greece, that he had contact with refugees and that he recorded events concerning the arrival of refugees in Greece.
Whether Olsen has committed the offences listed in the indictment, the court believes, is something to be assessed by the state that issued the arrest warrant. Therefore, the court concluded that the conditions for his arrest and extradition were met.
