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'All my hopes were with my son': A grieving migrant father’s plight in Greece
FirstpostA migrant father made the perilous sea journey from Turkey to Greece to give his son a chance at a better life. Legal documents obtained by the AP show the process of charging the father was initiated by the Samos coast guard, which informed the prosecutor of a man’s arrest for “exposing his minor son to danger during the attempted illegal entry into the country by sea.” Greece’s Shipping and Island Policy Ministry, under whose jurisdiction the coast guard falls, didn’t grant permission for Samos coast guard officials to speak to the AP. The indictment accuses him of “leaving your … child helpless.” It says the father allowed his son to board an unseaworthy boat in bad weather without wearing an appropriate lifejacket — although a photo in the case file of the boy’s body clearly shows him in a child’s lifejacket. [imgcenter> [/imgcenter> The father, his defense lawyer, Dimitris Choulis, and Olsen paint another picture of that night’s events: one of delays and negligence by the coast guard. [imgcenter> [/imgcenter> “Why did they do this to me?” the father said, distraught at the idea he had held out false hope of his son surviving.
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‘If they had left us be, we wouldn’t have drowned:’ CNN investigation raises questions about Greek coast guard’s account of shipwreck tragedy
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