(AP) An appeals court in Greece has ordered the release of a Somali migrant who had been sentenced to life in prison for people smuggling, in a case that has drawn international attention to draconian border protection laws in the European Union country.
Mohammad Hanad Abdi was sentenced to 142 years in prison in 2021 after being convicted following a deadly crossing in a dinghy from Turkey to the nearby Greek island of Lesbos the previous year.
At an appeal Monday on the Greek island of Lesbos, his sentence was reduced to 8 years and an appeals court judge ordered his release, recognizing time served and good behavior.
