An Irish man who was facing up to 20 years in jail for helping refugees in Greece has said the charges brought against him were "farcical".
Former humanitarian worker Seán Binder and 23 others, who had been volunteering to save refugees from drowning in the sea off Lesbos, were found not guilty of people smuggling, belonging to a criminal organisation and money laundering last night.
Mr Binder, who is originally from Co Kerry, has said that there was not "a shred of evidence" in the case brought against him almost eight years ago.
He added that the impact of the case was to deter people from volunteering to save migrants trying to cross the sea to Greece.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said he thought that "the only real aim" of the case was to deter other people from going to the Greek island to save migrants from drowning while trying to cross into the European Union.
"The prosecutor himself yesterday advised the court to acquit us. The judges unanimously agreed with that recommendation, and there wasn't a shred of evidence," Mr Binder said.
He added: "The foundation of the smuggling charge was that we did search and rescue.
"The accusation of spying was that we used WhatsApp. The fact that we were charged with money laundering stems from the fact that we raised money to buy laundry machines, it was farcical.
"So, the only real outcome of all of this is that it has stopped people from engaging in search and rescue."
Mr Binder said he felt "enormous relief" as the judgment finding them not guilty was read out in court yesterday.
"For seven years we have had this threat of 20 years' imprisonment hanging over our heads.
"At the same time, if you're going to go to prison, you should go in a Greek island. So, I am slightly sad to miss out on the island life for the next few decades," he said.
Mr Binder added that he was unable to continue with his life during the legal process, but his experience has inspired him to train as a barrister.
"I have been unable to continue with my life in many respects, although when I went to prison and I met people who were even more adversely affected by the criminal justice system, it encouraged me to retrain as a barrister," he said.
"So now I work as a criminal lawyer. Apparently, I can't get enough of the criminal law.
"And while that has been a positive step, it really has meant that I couldn't save to have children or a family.
"I have been unable to do very much with my life. I was not allowed to work, in fact, since I received my indictment. So I've been on pause for a while.
"But the far more important consequence is, of course, that there are others who don't do search and rescue because of prosecutions like ours," Mr Binder said.
