Court Convicts Four in 2020 Attack on German Photojournalist

Mytilene, Greece — On Friday, November 1, 2024, the Single-Member Misdemeanor Court of Mytilene found four defendants guilty of attacking German photojournalist Michael Trammer on March 1, 2020, at the port of Thermi on the island of Lesvos. The attack occurred while Trammer was filming a crowd verbally abusing and making violent threats against refugees attempting to disembark from a boat. 

Elli Kriona-Saranti, who represented Trammer for HIAS Greece, welcomed the decision. “Once again, the Mytilene Court has sent a strong message of zero tolerance for acts of violence against journalists and photojournalists covering the migration issue on Lesvos, as well as for vigilante actions by self-appointed groups,” she said. “The recognition of a racist motive in the crimes against these newly arrived refugees, fully aligned with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, underscores the true nature of these acts — not spontaneous expressions of frustration but hate crimes driven by contempt for refugees because of their origin and religion”. 

On the day of the attack, Trammer had gone to the port of Thermi to document the arrival of a boat carrying asylum seekers. A crowd of locals had gathered at the port, hurling racist insults and threats at the passengers on the boat, including vows to drown them at sea to prevent them from disembarking. At the same time, they publicly incited violence against them. Some of the gathered crowd even pushed the boat back toward open waters. 

While Trammer was filming the events, a group of young men violently attacked him. They repeatedly kicked and punched him, slamming him against the concrete and stone surfaces of the seawall before forcing him to the ground, causing a severe head wound and heavy bleeding. They also threw his equipment into the sea, rendering it completely unusable. Trammer was eventually taken to Mytilene Hospital, where he received stitches, though his transfer was significantly delayed due to roadblocks set up by vigilante groups on Lesvos.  

“I have witnessed countless moments of hatred and dehumanization covering events across Europe as a journalist, but the memories of March 1, 2020, are etched into my memory: a mob with racist motives attacking helpless people in a flimsy rubber dinghy without any engine in an emergency situation—including crying toddlers,” Trammer said.  

Five individuals were identified and brought to trial for these crimes, although one of them had passed away before the court proceedings began four and a half years later. 

After a thorough examination of the evidence, the court found the four defendants guilty as charged. Specifically, the four defendants — three men and one woman — were convicted of coercion with racist intent against 50 newly arrived refugees, as well as public incitement to violence against them, in violation of the Anti-Racism Law. 

Two of the defendants were also convicted of dangerous bodily harm and property damage against Mr. Trammer, with one identified as the primary offender and the other as an accomplice. 

The convicted individuals invoked mitigating circumstances; however, only their lack of prior criminal records was considered. Ultimately, the court imposed a prison sentence of three years and one month, along with a requirement to report to the police station once a month, on the man who was additionally convicted as the primary perpetrator in the assault on Trammer. His accomplice received a prison sentence of two years and five months. The other two defendants were sentenced to two years and two months and two years and four months, respectively. The sentences for these three were suspended, and all four defendants were granted a suspension of sentence pending appeal. 

It is worth noting that the attack occurred during a period of extreme violence in Lesvos, marked by daily incidents of vigilante attacks carried out with impunity, where self-appointed groups enforced their own rules and terrorized refugees and human rights defenders, exploiting local resentment over the containment of approximately 30,000 refugees and migrants on the island. 

“I am very glad that, after all these years, the court in Mytilene valued the huge amount of evidence against a few of the participants and some of the instigators, as well as two of a group that attacked me for documenting the events,” said Trammer. “Up until today, I ask myself why the other participants in this racist mob could not be identified and investigated by police — and why authorities did not intervene on that day.” 

HIAS Greece would like to thank all journalists and photojournalists who published or shared photos and video footage from that day’s events, helping to identify the perpetrators and support the charges brought against them. HIAS Greece also expresses its appreciation to the researcher Phevos Symeonidis for his detailed review and analysis of this material.