32-year-old Armenian migrant sentenced to life in prison in Greece
The Dodecanese Court of Appeals for Criminal Cases has sentenced a 32-year-old Armenian citizen to life imprisonment. The verdict was based on the sinking of a speedboat near the island of Rhodes, which resulted in the deaths of two people — a 10-year-old boy and a 21-year-old Palestinian, reports protothema.gr.
The 32-year-old man was also sentenced to nine months in prison and fined €2,400,500.
The other two defendants — a 31-year-old citizen of Athens and a 34-year-old Armenian citizen — were sentenced to nine months in prison, with the sentence suspended for three years.
The speedboat departed from the Turkish city of Marmaris on the evening of October 13, 2025, carrying 21 passengers. At around 00:20, the Greek Coast Guard detected the vessel heading towards the island of Rhodes. According to the testimony of the patrol boat operator, the speedboat’s driver ignored the audible and visual signals, increased the speed and began making dangerous manoeuvres. The boat capsized, and everyone on board fell into the sea without life jackets.
According to their testimonies, 16 irregular migrants — citizens of Somalia, Kuwait and Palestine — were rescued, along with three people who had been arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling. Shortly afterwards, two of them were taken for medical examination, and a forensic examination showed that they had been under the influence of alcohol.
Four of the victims said they had found the people involved in the illegal transportation of migrants mainly through social media and that each had paid between €3,500 and €4,300. They spoke of three “captains”: two of them took turns operating the boat, while the third gave navigational instructions regarding the route.
According to reports, the 32-year-old man admitted during the preliminary investigation that he had been operating the boat and stated that all three had taken turns steering it. He claimed that he had agreed to carry out the transportation on behalf of an intermediary operating in Turkey, without payment, in exchange for being allowed to travel to Greece free of charge.
He also claimed that Coast Guard officers fired shots into the air, leading him to believe that they were under attack, and that the patrol boat collided with the speedboat. However, the report by the patrol boat operator attributes the capsizing to the driver’s manoeuvres and makes no mention of any collision.
The 31-year-old and 34-year-old men maintained from the outset that they were passengers and that each had paid €4,000 to reach Europe. According to their statements, only the 32-year-old man was operating the boat.
