In February 2023 I finished my military service. After that I took the decision to go to Italy. My aunt and my cousins were in Italy. I saw them living a good life there. I started to speak with the smuggler about all the details on the phone. I knew him, my father knew him, he is well known in Egypt. If you want to go to Italy, you should go to Ahmad S. He told me: 'I will arrange all your papers and you will go from Egypt to Libya legally.' I had to go with my father and my brother to the tourist office Al Farahat, to give him the money. I paid 3,000 € for everything. 
I started the journey from Cairo. It took two days on the road. I stayed 55 days in a house in Tobruk, Libya. During that time, I was speaking to the smuggler on WhatsApp. 'When are we going to leave?', I asked him. One day, he told us to take all our things. We drove to the desert and someone told us to run: 'When you see the sea, there will be people who will take you with a small boat to the ship.' We started to run and arrived at sea.

We started the journey at six o’clock in the morning, I was downstairs in the boat. The boat was full, there were three floors. It was very difficult, I was smelling gas the whole time, I couldn’t breath. I thought: ’I have to go upstairs, if I stay here, I will die.' When I went upstairs, there was someone from the crew who told me that I have to go back downstairs. I went to the middle floor. This was the first time I was on a ship. All the time people were not feeling good, because there was no balance on the ship. We were 750 people. The captain was 17 years old. It was not his work, he went to Italy like anyone else. He told the smuggler on the phone: 'We are too many people, we should go back. We can’t continue to Italy.' The smuggler said: 'Drive this way, and I will send you the next location point to continue.’ The smuggler was staying home, he had money. Why should he go to Italy? 

If the journey had been like the first day, we would have arrived in Italy, but we didn't have water and the weather was very hot. There were five people from the crew. Everybody saw the captain, everybody saw the crew. During the whole journey we kept having a problem with the motor. The motor stopped working from time to time because the engine was very hot. Everybody was nervous, everybody was tired. There were a lot of minors on board. They started to cry, because they had the feeling they would die. Some people asked me and other Egyptians if we could help. I was not scared and started to help. That’s why later people said I was part of the crew. All the men who got arrested had helped. I gave people water and I told them not to move, to stay in their place.

On the fifth day the Greek Coast Guard came. We didn't call them, we didn’t ask for help. They stopped us and threw a rope towards our boat. People fixed the rope within five minutes to our boat. The Coast Guard started to drive and our ship tilted one time right, one time left, one time right. Suddenly everything was dark. I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything. The water went inside the ship and the oxygen went out. Water was coming up to my chin. I remembered there was a door. I managed to get outside the boat. When I looked back, I saw the ship in the water. It didn’t take more than 15 minutes. People were calling the Coast Guard because they had a light. They didn’t help anyone and were using their mobiles to take videos, they were smiling. I was afraid to go to them. We were swimming for two hours. A yacht with an Italian flag came. [They were called to support the Coast Guard]. We were taken to the yacht. There were Coast Guards who asked if we had taken videos. They took all the phones and put them in a bag. They have never given them back to us. Four people with weapons said: 'Don’t move.' All the time, they looked at us. The yacht’s crew started to help us a little bit. They gave us water and said: 'You will be okay. We will bring you to Kalamata, we will help you.' All the survivors said: 'We need to go to Italy, we don’t need to go to Greece.’

We arrived in Kalamata at seven in the morning and went to a small warehouse. People started to ask us if we were okay. I said: 'I am coming from death, I am not okay.’ I couldn’t breathe, because of what I saw. They gave us clothes and food. Police were asking us normal questions, like our name, age or country.

At three o'clock at night, I heard a voice. I woke up and looked at a Coast Guard officer. He told me: 'You can call your mother, come with us.' I wanted to make one call to tell my family I didn’t die. I went with him. Outside the warehouse, there was another person from the boat. I asked him if he knew what they would do and he said that maybe they needed more information. We walked 500 meters and suddenly they started to handcuff me. They said: ‘Don’t worry, it is normal, we will take some information and then bring you back.’ I told them that it was not normal and that I didn’t like it but they told me to be quiet. 

During the investigation they told me: 'You killed 600 people.' I started to cry: 'You killed us, the Coast Guard killed us.' They continued saying: 'You are a smuggler.' I told them that if I was a smuggler, I would have money. They asked me: 'Did you see the smuggler, were they inside the boat?‘- 'In your mind, would the smuggler be on the ship with us? He stayed of course in Libya.‘ They threatened me by saying that they knew President Sisi: ‘He is our friend. We will tell him to take your family to the prison if you don't help us.' I knew they couldn’t do anything. I said: ’I am not a bad man. I want to go back to the warehouse.' - 'You will go nowhere. You will stay in prison, you will stay your whole life in prison.' At this moment I realised what they could do. They showed me pictures of the Egyptians and they gave me a picture of myself. They started to ask me what we were doing on the ship. I explained that we had helped. If we hadn’t helped, we would have died. We all saw the captain, we all knew the crew. If the crew would be inside the camp, I would have told them but they were not there. The officers informed me that other passengers had said that I had taken the money and that I had shown them where to sit. It was true that I had helped on the ship but why should I go to prison for that? I added that I had been one of the last people to board the ship. They were laughing the whole time and speaking in Greek. They brought me to a cell, a small room, downstairs in the Coast Guard station. I stayed there for two nights with other people from our boat. 

On the second day, we went to court. The judge only asked a few questions. I told her everything. In the evening, we were brought to the police station of Kalamata. When I first called my mother, we were crying a lot. And then we moved on quickly and tried to figure out what to do. She gave me the number of the Egyptian embassy and I called them. They knew about our boat, but they didn't know the complete story. I told them that we would go one more time to court the next day and that we needed a translator.

They really came the next day and they told us: 'You will go outside. We know you didn't do anything. You should not be nervous.’ In court, the investigation started. No one asked how we were shipwrecked. They were only asking who was the captain. The translator told them that the ship had not been in Greek waters, but in international waters. I knew if somebody makes a crime in international waters, the Greek justice can not do anything. After ten minutes the investigation was over. If I was a smuggler it should last 24 hours, not ten minutes. We told the embassy: 'They made us fall in the water. We will not stay one more day in the police station. We demand our rights’. They told us to be patient: 'You were in international waters. They will let you go.' I said: 'Like any person I request mercy. I need justice. It is not fair. I went from the sea to the prison. It is like you are killing me slowly.' At the end of the court the judge told us: 'You will stay ten days at Kalamata Police station and then we will continue the investigation.’ The young people, who were 19, 20 years old, lost their minds. They started shouting. 

Ten days, nine people in one room. The officers gave us food at eleven o’clock in the morning and at eight o’clock in the evening. After ten days, they sent us to the prison in Nafplio. 'How much time will we stay here?' No-one could answer. We were going to quarantine. During these days I couldn’t walk because I was so tired. We received a carta to make calls and started to get financial help from our families. One day, we took the decision to go on a hunger strike to protest against our detention. We stayed seven days like that. During these days the prison’s manager called us: 'You should eat and drink water. You should take care of yourself. I know, you didn't do anything. You will stay here for a short time, like six months.' We told her that six months were not a short time. But after seven days we stopped the hungerstirke. We stayed 20 days in quarantine. We slept and had little food. A security man gave me the number of a journalist. Everyone started to tell his story. We met the lawyer Alex Georgoulis. He said 'I won a lot of cases like this. You should trust me.' It was the first time we were feeling hope.
On the first day when we left quarantine the other prisoners were fighting us. They told us what the rules in prison were. 
We were six people in one room. We had a bath room and one television. Two people were sleeping on the floor. There was no privacy. The doors were closed from seven o’clock at night until eight o'clock in the morning and then again from twelve till three o’clock. 
In Greece, during that time, they had presidential elections between Mitsotakis and Tsipras. Everybody said our case was a political case. I told them I hadn’t gone to the revolution in Egypt. I didn’t do any crime in my country. Why should I be in a political case in prison in another country?

Prison was a difficult time. In the beginning, we didn't have money. I had my cousin in Italy who was helping me with money for the carta, for coffee or anything. When you called your family it cost ten euros for seven minutes. Everything was expensive in prison. After some months, we received the first documents from court with our accusations. The witnesses were nine people. They said that I had given people food and water. And that I had told them where they should sit. I did do that but I am not a smuggler.
My mother told me that I would be released, that I had not done anything wrong. Her health at that moment was not good. It was very difficult for her. She told me that I should be patient. We have a history in the Quran, it is named after Yusuf. I think it is my story. Yusuf went to prison where he stayed for seven years. He didn’t do anything. When Yusuf went outside, he became a minister. It is a story about patience. My mother said 'Not everyone who goes to prison will stay there his whole life.’ It gave me hope. 

The days before the court I was not talking much. My lawyer Natasha Dailiani told me that I should describe everything, and if they were not listening, to tell them that I needed to talk.
During the court I was so afraid. But when I started to talk with the judge, the fear was gone. It was the moment to tell everything. They didn't ask us who had destroyed our ship. Everything they were talking about was where we wanted to go. I wanted to go to Italy. There were normal questions. When they told us the verdict, that we were acquitted, I cried. I had not imagined, they would decide this. It was like starting a new life. But after the court, I was not free. I was so angry about it. In Egypt if you are innocent, you leave the court as a free person. In Greece I had to stay in the police station in Kalamata for five more days. Then I had to stay ten more days at the police station of Nafplio. They said it was because we didn’t have an address. When we finally went outside, I smelled the air. The air in prison was not like the air on the street. On the street, the air was fresh. It was the air of hope and of a new life.

In February 2023 I finished my military service. After that I took the decision to go to Italy. My aunt and my cousins were in Italy. I saw them living a good life there. I started to speak with the smuggler about all the details on the phone. I knew him, my father knew him, he is well known in Egypt. If you want to go to Italy, you should go to Ahmad S. He told me: 'I will arrange all your papers and you will go from Egypt to Libya legally.' I had to go with my father and my brother to the tourist office Al Farahat, to give him the money. I paid 3,000 € for everything. 
I started the journey from Cairo. It took two days on the road. I stayed 55 days in a house in Tobruk, Libya. During that time, I was speaking to the smuggler on WhatsApp. 'When are we going to leave?', I asked him. One day, he told us to take all our things. We drove to the desert and someone told us to run: 'When you see the sea, there will be people who will take you with a small boat to the ship.' We started to run and arrived at sea.

We started the journey at six o’clock in the morning, I was downstairs in the boat. The boat was full, there were three floors. It was very difficult, I was smelling gas the whole time, I couldn’t breath. I thought: ’I have to go upstairs, if I stay here, I will die.' When I went upstairs, there was someone from the crew who told me that I have to go back downstairs. I went to the middle floor. This was the first time I was on a ship. All the time people were not feeling good, because there was no balance on the ship. We were 750 people. The captain was 17 years old. It was not his work, he went to Italy like anyone else. He told the smuggler on the phone: 'We are too many people, we should go back. We can’t continue to Italy.' The smuggler said: 'Drive this way, and I will send you the next location point to continue.’ The smuggler was staying home, he had money. Why should he go to Italy? 

If the journey had been like the first day, we would have arrived in Italy, but we didn't have water and the weather was very hot. There were five people from the crew. Everybody saw the captain, everybody saw the crew. During the whole journey we kept having a problem with the motor. The motor stopped working from time to time because the engine was very hot. Everybody was nervous, everybody was tired. There were a lot of minors on board. They started to cry, because they had the feeling they would die. Some people asked me and other Egyptians if we could help. I was not scared and started to help. That’s why later people said I was part of the crew. All the men who got arrested had helped. I gave people water and I told them not to move, to stay in their place.

On the fifth day the Greek Coast Guard came. We didn't call them, we didn’t ask for help. They stopped us and threw a rope towards our boat. People fixed the rope within five minutes to our boat. The Coast Guard started to drive and our ship tilted one time right, one time left, one time right. Suddenly everything was dark. I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything. The water went inside the ship and the oxygen went out. Water was coming up to my chin. I remembered there was a door. I managed to get outside the boat. When I looked back, I saw the ship in the water. It didn’t take more than 15 minutes. People were calling the Coast Guard because they had a light. They didn’t help anyone and were using their mobiles to take videos, they were smiling. I was afraid to go to them. We were swimming for two hours. A yacht with an Italian flag came. [They were called to support the Coast Guard]. We were taken to the yacht. There were Coast Guards who asked if we had taken videos. They took all the phones and put them in a bag. They have never given them back to us. Four people with weapons said: 'Don’t move.' All the time, they looked at us. The yacht’s crew started to help us a little bit. They gave us water and said: 'You will be okay. We will bring you to Kalamata, we will help you.' All the survivors said: 'We need to go to Italy, we don’t need to go to Greece.’

We arrived in Kalamata at seven in the morning and went to a small warehouse. People started to ask us if we were okay. I said: 'I am coming from death, I am not okay.’ I couldn’t breathe, because of what I saw. They gave us clothes and food. Police were asking us normal questions, like our name, age or country.

At three o'clock at night, I heard a voice. I woke up and looked at a Coast Guard officer. He told me: 'You can call your mother, come with us.' I wanted to make one call to tell my family I didn’t die. I went with him. Outside the warehouse, there was another person from the boat. I asked him if he knew what they would do and he said that maybe they needed more information. We walked 500 meters and suddenly they started to handcuff me. They said: ‘Don’t worry, it is normal, we will take some information and then bring you back.’ I told them that it was not normal and that I didn’t like it but they told me to be quiet. 

During the investigation they told me: 'You killed 600 people.' I started to cry: 'You killed us, the Coast Guard killed us.' They continued saying: 'You are a smuggler.' I told them that if I was a smuggler, I would have money. They asked me: 'Did you see the smuggler, were they inside the boat?‘- 'In your mind, would the smuggler be on the ship with us? He stayed of course in Libya.‘ They threatened me by saying that they knew President Sisi: ‘He is our friend. We will tell him to take your family to the prison if you don't help us.' I knew they couldn’t do anything. I said: ’I am not a bad man. I want to go back to the warehouse.' - 'You will go nowhere. You will stay in prison, you will stay your whole life in prison.' At this moment I realised what they could do. They showed me pictures of the Egyptians and they gave me a picture of myself. They started to ask me what we were doing on the ship. I explained that we had helped. If we hadn’t helped, we would have died. We all saw the captain, we all knew the crew. If the crew would be inside the camp, I would have told them but they were not there. The officers informed me that other passengers had said that I had taken the money and that I had shown them where to sit. It was true that I had helped on the ship but why should I go to prison for that? I added that I had been one of the last people to board the ship. They were laughing the whole time and speaking in Greek. They brought me to a cell, a small room, downstairs in the Coast Guard station. I stayed there for two nights with other people from our boat. 

On the second day, we went to court. The judge only asked a few questions. I told her everything. In the evening, we were brought to the police station of Kalamata. When I first called my mother, we were crying a lot. And then we moved on quickly and tried to figure out what to do. She gave me the number of the Egyptian embassy and I called them. They knew about our boat, but they didn't know the complete story. I told them that we would go one more time to court the next day and that we needed a translator.

They really came the next day and they told us: 'You will go outside. We know you didn't do anything. You should not be nervous.’ In court, the investigation started. No one asked how we were shipwrecked. They were only asking who was the captain. The translator told them that the ship had not been in Greek waters, but in international waters. I knew if somebody makes a crime in international waters, the Greek justice can not do anything. After ten minutes the investigation was over. If I was a smuggler it should last 24 hours, not ten minutes. We told the embassy: 'They made us fall in the water. We will not stay one more day in the police station. We demand our rights’. They told us to be patient: 'You were in international waters. They will let you go.' I said: 'Like any person I request mercy. I need justice. It is not fair. I went from the sea to the prison. It is like you are killing me slowly.' At the end of the court the judge told us: 'You will stay ten days at Kalamata Police station and then we will continue the investigation.’ The young people, who were 19, 20 years old, lost their minds. They started shouting. 

Ten days, nine people in one room. The officers gave us food at eleven o’clock in the morning and at eight o’clock in the evening. After ten days, they sent us to the prison in Nafplio. 'How much time will we stay here?' No-one could answer. We were going to quarantine. During these days I couldn’t walk because I was so tired. We received a carta to make calls and started to get financial help from our families. One day, we took the decision to go on a hunger strike to protest against our detention. We stayed seven days like that. During these days the prison’s manager called us: 'You should eat and drink water. You should take care of yourself. I know, you didn't do anything. You will stay here for a short time, like six months.' We told her that six months were not a short time. But after seven days we stopped the hungerstirke. We stayed 20 days in quarantine. We slept and had little food. A security man gave me the number of a journalist. Everyone started to tell his story. We met the lawyer Alex Georgoulis. He said 'I won a lot of cases like this. You should trust me.' It was the first time we were feeling hope.
On the first day when we left quarantine the other prisoners were fighting us. They told us what the rules in prison were. 
We were six people in one room. We had a bath room and one television. Two people were sleeping on the floor. There was no privacy. The doors were closed from seven o’clock at night until eight o'clock in the morning and then again from twelve till three o’clock. 
In Greece, during that time, they had presidential elections between Mitsotakis and Tsipras. Everybody said our case was a political case. I told them I hadn’t gone to the revolution in Egypt. I didn’t do any crime in my country. Why should I be in a political case in prison in another country?

Prison was a difficult time. In the beginning, we didn't have money. I had my cousin in Italy who was helping me with money for the carta, for coffee or anything. When you called your family it cost ten euros for seven minutes. Everything was expensive in prison. After some months, we received the first documents from court with our accusations. The witnesses were nine people. They said that I had given people food and water. And that I had told them where they should sit. I did do that but I am not a smuggler.
My mother told me that I would be released, that I had not done anything wrong. Her health at that moment was not good. It was very difficult for her. She told me that I should be patient. We have a history in the Quran, it is named after Yusuf. I think it is my story. Yusuf went to prison where he stayed for seven years. He didn’t do anything. When Yusuf went outside, he became a minister. It is a story about patience. My mother said 'Not everyone who goes to prison will stay there his whole life.’ It gave me hope. 

The days before the court I was not talking much. My lawyer Natasha Dailiani told me that I should describe everything, and if they were not listening, to tell them that I needed to talk.
During the court I was so afraid. But when I started to talk with the judge, the fear was gone. It was the moment to tell everything. They didn't ask us who had destroyed our ship. Everything they were talking about was where we wanted to go. I wanted to go to Italy. There were normal questions. When they told us the verdict, that we were acquitted, I cried. I had not imagined, they would decide this. It was like starting a new life. But after the court, I was not free. I was so angry about it. In Egypt if you are innocent, you leave the court as a free person. In Greece I had to stay in the police station in Kalamata for five more days. Then I had to stay ten more days at the police station of Nafplio. They said it was because we didn’t have an address. When we finally went outside, I smelled the air. The air in prison was not like the air on the street. On the street, the air was fresh. It was the air of hope and of a new life.

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