Nine men in court after 'more than 500' killed in Greece migrant boat tragedy

ITV News Senior International Correspondent reports from the Greek city of Kalamata

The nine Egyptian men, who the Greek police believe are responsible for last week’s catastrophic sinking of a migrant boat, have appeared in court in the city of Kalamata for the first time.

The suspected traffickers were among those rescued after the trawler capsized causing the deaths of an estimated 500 people.

The men face a litany of charges including negligent homicide, causing a shipwreck and belonging to a criminal organisation.

We watched as they were walked out of the local police station, handcuffed in threes, and put into cars for the short drive to the court building.

Outside, their lawyers indicated they would be denying the accusations on the basis they were just migrants rather than people smugglers.

The defendants are all men - a reminder that no women or children were among the dead recovered or the people rescued.

When it came to abandoning this particular ship it was every man for himself. 

It wasn’t even a case of women and children last, let alone first.

It seems that all were consigned to a watery grave, some fifty miles south of this port.

It is Greece’s worst maritime disaster in the modern era.

Following an adjournment today, the men are due in court again tomorrow.

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