columbia currently only allows termination of a pregnancy for specific reasons. more tennis players and the heads of some of the sports governing bodies raising concerns about a missing chinese stop. thanks way has not been seen in public since she made sexual assault allegations against the top chinese government official. 2 weeks ago, the head of the women's tennis association received an email purporting to be from her, but he's now questioning it in it. she reportedly says she's resting at home and retracts the allegations. steve simon says that he's concerned about her safety. ah, it is good to be with us. hello, adrian finnegan, here in doha, the headlines on al jazeera india's government has announced that his withdrawing 3 controversial farm laws. the registration had triggered nationwide protests that lasted more than a year. i'd met up today,

i have come to tell you and the entire nation that we have decided to repeal the 3 laws summoning we will complete the got to the short process of repealing the laws during the parliamentary session that begin to the end of this month. to day am asking all my former friends who had been protesting to return to your homes, your farm land 0 and your family. belarus has cleared a makeshift camp from migrants. refugees that it's porter with poland. hundreds of those asylum seekers, mostly iraqi kurds of abandoned their attempts to enter the e. u and have returned. home sedans, police chief, has defended his security forces, insisting they used only legal means to control recent opposition. protests, doctors say that at least 15 demonstrators were killed by a live fire on wednesday. is a monday for the safety of citizens and to avoid disorder. police forces are usually keen during operations of protecting protests and marches. to keep weapons

fit for use in context of civilians, mainly relying on t gas. one of different types spans coast guard has rescued a group of migrants near the canary islands. the boat was carrying 40 people. 2 of them had died at sea. 2 others were taken to hospital in a critical condition. it's the 2nd time this week the coast guard has had to make a rescue in the same area. canada, some military is now on the ground, helping with the rescue efforts in the flood. devastated province of british columbia. one person is confirmed dead, at least 3 are missing. 18000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the countries western most province. flooding and land slides have cut major roads, making the transportation of goods difficult. this, the headlights of these continues here on al jazeera right. after today's edition of inside story, next from the al jazeera london broke our fantastic people in thoughtful conversation. we were 1st generation of black people and we had to really find our

way with know, hey, i know in the world is a much smaller place. we do better to get away with these regional boundaries, film direct, thank you into a certainly have it making us visible here. be out there until recently, they were how think refugees in greece. now, a group of 8 workers is on trial, accused of spying, and many other charges. what is this politically motivated and what does it mean for aid work worldwide? this is inside story. with hello, welcome to the program. i'm hashem. i'll bottle up more than 2 dozen. 8 workers

from different nations are facing trial on the greek island of less bus. they are accused of helping migrants reach greece. among them is a seaman refugee star. i'm ardini, who was granted asylum in germany and is the sister of olympic swimmer. you're still a martini the to came under international spotlight in 2015 when they dragged their bow to safety 4 kilometers. when its engine failed, they all stand accuse of buying people smuggling and money laundering. among other chargers, some could face up to 25 years in prison. they say there were only helping other fellow humans. i never for a moment thought, but trying to help somebody out at the woodland you in prison, free trial prison for 3 and a half months and i want to also end up facing 25 years in prison. i'm terrified, terrified, of going back to prison. there is, it is incredibly frightening. you know, when we were 1st and all the attention,

you're held in your head, the free trial prison. but your invoice until proven guilty. i didn't see any of innocence or being treated like an innocent person. why schools have condemned that while think it's politically motivated? humor wise was dog amnesty international high school. the trial farcical. we're here to say how outrageous we are, the greek government, he's pursuing a criminal cases, charges against the people did absolutely nothing wrong. and so on. typical case of exemplary case. well, what's going on now in europe? dozens of people are being criminalizing criminalize for do that. i think what is helping people need, helping records in my guns. you need immediately to adopt that jarvis and let these 2 young people come on with their lives. we'll begin our discussion in a moment, but 1st let's go to john sutton. us in offense. john, how do the greek people react into this particular trial?

well, at the moment, this isn't very well publicized. the news of this is not very widespread. there are other things like virus claiming the limelight. this is a story that's been ongoing since september 2018 when the indictments took place. there is awareness, very high awareness among the humanitarian community in the 8 community. and there the reactions that people are pulled because the emergency response and trans national was an age group that was working very closely with authorities, including the atlantic coast guard, the local authorities, unless was the government they had cleared all the hurdles in terms of registration with the government and following the regulations and the national law. so this indictment of all its members came a little out of the blue. i've spoken both then and more recently this year with

the lawyer representing the group. who tells me that there were serious procedural problems with the way these indictments were handled. first of all, the names of individuals who are indict will lead to the press, which is a contravention of european privacy law and seems to shift the burden of proof on 2 individuals and away from the prosecutor. before the trial even begins, there will lead to document being included in the indictment which is highly irregular. and then there's the problem that the inquisitive issue, the rest warrants before the defendant had had a opportunity to make a 1st response. this is very unusual. i'm told, and it's only in cases where there's a very serious slight risk on the part of the defendants quick. so the critics, i think that's just by the very nature of the charges, particularly as buying could be an indication of

a government is adamant about the need to further silence. international aid organizations, operating grease well as you know, those indictments back in september of 2018 were not the only ones against the search and rescue operations. they were followed in september of 2020, by the indictment of another 4 groups. another 33 individuals including groups that i've spoken to since then, who also say they were absolutely honest with the hell and it was called about the whereabouts and what they were doing. they usually operate vessels that placed themselves deliberately in areas where refugee duties are expected to be found in order to love helen coast guard to come and pick them up. also the coast

guard to us, the turkish cars go to go and pick them up they, they are simply their sponsors and facilitators. so they also were very surprised september of last year to be in dices. and they also have absolutely no idea what they've done wrong. and these are very serious charges that are being levels the charges of trafficking and espionage which could land people, life imprisonment sentences. i've been told by the lawyer representing the spectacles that looking into the evidence presented by the prosecutor. many of these charges don't really stand friends out. one of the accused is sarah martini swimmer from syria, who was at the time 23 years old volunteering with the and he told me that on many of the times and dates when she is supposed to have been on in less,

was breaking the law. she was in fact in germany applying to university. so there seem to be some, some serious problems with the case, but just bring in forward john, thank you. let's bring in august elizabeth yoga, because more pull a senior campaigner on migration at amnesty international in cambridge, marianna kirk or like a journalist and researcher focusing on refugees and far right. movements in greece in brussels. bitter class is editor of brussels report. you're welcome to the program. your gus, you joined many other international. he writes organizations describing the prosecution as absurd and farcical. is it because of the very nature of the chargers or because the proceeding itself is flawed? i just, i just came out of the car and i think it's back to what is more important. he's

farcical and because of things of the other our kids are doing ah, basically what the greek government is doing. the legal halls, student stating people were doing good work, necessarily walk out and get hold of helping the costa and juggling to course i saw it time and again national song today and of course and share it with him and joint and criminalize, doing a good thing and actually not done this trial of witness tradition of never happened. my gonna, so what happened in between these were 8 workers operating you last burst, helping refugees. now the government is saying, wait a 2nd, this something that has to be addressed. these people wor. ready involved in many, many charges are basically the human picking is quite or because the district inc went so they and, and, and as in, i think this case we get

a case of criminal ah, that is in the europe union. why they're targeted in a, they're not set. think that this is the next because the bad will set a similar example, but they were not baggins here. peter many say this is a politically motivated trial. to what extent are the, is the greek government taken advantage of? the divide within the european union about migration to move forward with this aggressive stance. well, of course it's a complex issue and i saw some of the charges includes fake license plates and then there's indeed very serious charges as well, like human smuggling and to espionage. and it's hard to, for, of course,

as an outsider, to, to claim, if these chargers are justified or not. but to the extent that criminalizing aid workers is meant to sort of stop some of the, the problems and the miss the miss problem miss situations over there. i, i don't think it's the right strategy to follow. i mean, the thing is that you have a 10 line between human smuggling and putting your boat somewhere, knowing that human smugglers woods, you know, abuse it. so i think it would be much more, much more sensible for degree government to say, look, we know that you're willing to help, but you have to restrict your activities to these areas because otherwise criminals will take advantage of your, of your good intentions. and that does not the strategy you're just the you've been

of the trial. the, the, the general prosecutor must have his own justification is about the prosecution. now, the case of sardine, the serial refugee and her sister, her drug, a boat to safety, celebrated by the international community. as heroes now are seen by the greek authority as criminals who might spell as particularly, sar, whom might spend many years behind bars. i think no one will be convinced of muslims because it's simply not subtle. martina was someone who, who gave her private time a lot of her 1st time and the commitment to come here to lead time to help people to help people the need. she was actually feeling and got together. so in another restaurant, when many videos and the cost or other vessels, what actually calling up on them to help them cpr training with getting people out of the water that might be, that should be celebrated. let's not forget but sad song for example is spent

pretty matching. please don't because your phone is a legal fees for the area preschool flight. now i just came out of the courtroom and i will not be there because the greek also wont let the travel to waste to participate in town high. oh, she wants to come here. she wants to show her face because there's nothing wrong. i'll say no. it's not done nothing wrong, she's done a lot of food and she shouldn't be celebrated. and i think what i've seen today's the opposite of that is basically part of why the trend across your lifestyle lies a walk. and at the end of the day, you bet it's chilling a little spot elsewhere. everyone was trying to help everyone who's trying to control it. well, how might have to think twice in doing so. and this is not only a moral, but there's also in the country according to marianna. because this trying to be an

indication that the conservative government in greece led by korea because mits attack is, is adamant about the need not to repeat. what happened in 2015, 2016. it's an example of the authoritarian nature of the government of those mental case. and we have seen that everyone that is acting against the government's whales is criminalized. even though the people who were arrested in 2018 were arrested before was mitchell donkeys. he seems to have exacerbated the power that he the government has over the legal system. and this is quite problematic, to be honest, every single person that does not agree with the governments of that case is for a that case and targeted by an online heard of,

of throws. and there are being chased out of outside of the country. like what, like the example of the dutch journalist, the african mitchell diag. it's about push bugs. theater. are we likely to see european countries step in, in this particular case and say it's about time to give justice to the emergency response center international and the brave people who will work in hard day at night to help refugees? well, i think this is all desperate attempts to crack down on the human smuggling, and indeed i think we should put some question, question marks around some of the things that are happening there now from the mentally. the question is, why do we have all that human smuggling in the, in the 1st place, and in, in, okay, on occasion, then human smugglers use a workers for their purposes. now the answer is, of course,

easy to respond to is because if you are in asylum seeker and you want to request a solemn in europe, there's hardly any older roots done to, to use human smugglers. so i think that that has to change. for now, the use migration policies have not managed to to improve much on that front. i think fundamentally, we need to look at very different approaches. the one currently explored by denmark is actually quite interesting. the idea is that there's a deal with a towards country where people can go, can apply for asylum. you would have sort of safe corridors from, you know, refugee centers in, in crisis areas. so people no longer have to use human smuggling. of course, it will also entail that if you illegally entered and you would be brought to an offshore processing center. i know there's

a lot of criticism on this was trailer has done it. it has made mistakes. the conditions there were, were very bats. but there were also some successes in the sense that the number of drawings from people trying to get into his trio ass has gone to virtually 0. so obviously we have to tackle. ready boats, you know, we have to avoid that people risk their lives and, and, and drone and see or, or the victim of all these gangs. a bill also if they then are welcomed in a reception center, of course the conditions have to be high standards. they need to get an answer very quickly. they should not be there for too long. so yes, i think that's the route to follow. yoga. follow my d. the show me bind and the other aid workers were traumatized by this experience and by the charges brought about by the by the,

by the court. what are the options for them now in the future? we have no option but to continue to fight against this job. as this child must be dropped and the group must use the chinese gentlemen off base a child to be tried by high school to simply drop the charges that don't have much problems. and let's, let's look at the private cost on people's lives. 25 been 60 years old. the. the principal spent 25. yes. prison public. possibly the best life. and the symbol. what option do these people? how they're just voted cross through a system which doesn't even allow them to come and face these. they say this is bill half of 5. yes, i'm going to study them all the way because this case is simply an example is a friday, somebody was going euro and as far as lisa is concerned, just goes to sol. how far the google, these are prepared to go to proven allies mortgage and basically keep people

awful with source. and let's forget, it's not going about a month and a chilling effect. but what the civil society of other banks, hardly any independent in any object without the course of the course of life. and we need, we need to observe a willing people to ready fox and to be there too, too often. so i don't have the time, so i'm going to fight them, but we need to fight with them. and i'm not going to say something about heard by the danish in this proposal because it's very personal up. and i don't think that's a good idea solving that problem, but disappearing out of sight. it's really, it's hardly a solution. ok, we need well allow access to people, you know, federal seizure and by no means jewel stick and fair share of asylum seekers. just so that's the thing is an excuse just so migration is

a very center of this particular case, mariana. now you how the top a you migration official saying that we need migrant because europe is aging and we have to show solidarity. you have the greek government saying though it's about time to clamp on the bible of migrants and the case of prosecution of those 8 workers is a clear message. this divine itself, this disconnect is it likely to further or more pressure on the migrants trying to reach europe, migrant thinkers. we continue trying to ensure a because they're escaping coffee zones. those 2 differences between the union and grace. i don't think it's actually a real difference because your bank is fully aware about grace's back. thanks. and they seem to endorsing but not publicly, but the fact that they are not stopping grace from committing in the national lock

. crimes is quite showing of its approach to migration. the unit does not want rescue jays. these are one of the biggest problems here is the european stance itself, when it comes to or welcoming the refugees. and i think the most contentious issue, in particular words, should every country be obliged to receive some refugees, something which has been dismissed by the hungarian and by the polish governors. is this the main reason why this is likely to continue deepening the divide between the european countries about migration? well, i think it's true that some of the things that we're seeing are the result of public opinion in europe. that is indeed very much against not so much migration and asylum seekers. but i would say this orderly migration flows and especially the crisis in 2015, 2016 has really traumatized public opinion. so that's why i think it's very

important for of proponents of migration and i include myself among them specially i think europe could definitely benefit from skills migration and happening in orderly manner while also obviously welcoming asylum seekers. i think if you're in favor of that, i think you should realize how important it is that it happens in order the way. and that's why i would like to see a lot more attention for the danish 40 australian model, which are not perfect. absolutely not. and definitely should be improved, but are absolutely not meant to avoid migration or avoid asylum seekers, but are meant to sure it happens in an orderly manner. and this is, i can't stress how important this is. and actually the case of going after aid workers, i like my colleague said young workers that do this out of the good of their hearts

is i think a symptom of how traumatized public opinion can, can, can engage and desperate measures that are obviously not going to do much to help barber ok help it. border protection, build it or are quite question. you're going to be the sort of the prosecution as farcical, but the environment itself in europe, to what extent it has been conducive to what we seeing now in greece. because when you look at the center, right, it's embracing the same steps taken by the fire, right? the far right is now on the rise. you have a t v, a far right upon that in france, an exam more. who said that immigration was a threat to the french identity. is that environment responsible for those actions taken by countries, particularly by the greek government? i think it's clear that has been some section of the public opinion. i still don't

think about this article and you can get the migration was all we have to to of course be problematic and see what happened to saga 15 was not perfect. and the real issue here is how to organize the system. but it's under the obviously doesn't people, so i please. and that's and begin by saying something like that. so there has to be a lot from the day, which i think was mentioned already. this is not on the table that actually does not want to come up with you in the next 2 2nd legal routes. and what we need to do have a good pm level. we have a system where records in my student evenly all fairly among member states and in see for hungary, and there was absolutely freezing to do so it should, this is really fast. again, we are not going to go against the climate of china or b o racists by becoming more count for our cell phone,

approaching the positions that they have inexpensively, half was done around, we have to boys to, to people lease one in migration. we open society one, welcome migrants and not all the trouble for assisting our views according to love . because that also not only she, when i get on the respected, but the thing like monitor substation and you know, y'all goes because small us marianna calico like a peter clip. i really appreciate your insight. thank you and thank you to for watching. you can see the program again any time by visiting our website a dot com for further discussion. got our facebook page, thus facebook dot com forward slash a jane sigh. sorry. you can also join the conversations with our 100. is it a james? i slowly from we have to abide by the entire team here in doha. ah,

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the stage is set and it's time for a different approach. one that is going to challenge the way you think from international politics, to the global pandemic, and everything in between. upfront with me, mark lamond hill on al jazeera, around 200 wildfires have struck turkey in recent weeks and i'll say support has how to bring them on the control almost a decade that go west spaniel. glad martin was an exchange student in turkey's booster province. she had no idea she will be flying planes over turkeys, agent, coastline to have combat wildfires. blood is one of a dozen fire fighters who ever rides from spain to counter fires that have eaten up forest and pastures along turkey's age and mediterranean coast. in the distance headquarters refilled their camp to buckets for another. go at the fires though many are now contained, others have stubbornly spread due to change. in dreams,

aircrafts have played a white is a patient because they can't cover long distance in a matter of minutes, especially in mountainous terrain. a long turkey sultan coast. ah . india's government backs down prime minister miramonte says he's withdrawing controversial fall laws after year long protests. ah, hello, i'm adrian. and again, this is al jazeera alive from dough ha. also coming up migrant camp, cleared police in bella, rou, smooth, thousands.