Turkish judge escapes to Greece on migrant boat, seeks asylum

Turkish judge escapes to Greece on migrant boat, seeks asylum

ATHENS
Turkish judge escapes to Greece on migrant boat, seeks asylum A Turkish judge escaped to the Greek island of Chios on a migrant boat illegally on Aug. 30 and sought asylum in the country, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The 50-year-old judge embarked on the island’s Agia Eleni coast at 6 a.m. inside a boat carrying six Syrian migrants, officials from the Chios coast guard said.

They also said the judge wanted to apply for political asylum in the country. He was later referred to a prosecutor on charges of illegally entering the country.

Meanwhile, Greek media reported that the judge would be transferred to Athens for his asylum proceedings.
Earlier this week, seven suspected members of the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) had sought asylum in Greece after illegally entering the country.

In addition, eight coup plotter soldiers had escaped to the Alexandroupoli province near the Turkish border by a military helicopter on July 16, one day after the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey.

They had been sentenced to suspended two-month prison terms on charges of illegally entering the country in late July. The hearing of their asylum claim had begun on Aug. 19.

Turkey has sacked or suspended around 80,000 people from the civil service, judiciary, police forces and courts following the attempted takeover.