Complaint filed against ex-chief of EU border agency

PARIS

The aid organization Utopia 56 and the French Human Rights League (LDH) in France filed a complaint against former Frontex Director Fabrice Leggeri on Tuesday, accusing him of complicity in "crimes against humanity and torture."

Utopia 56 and LDH said the Mediterranean has become the most "deadly migration route" in recent years.

The statement highlighted that 16,272 migrants died in the Mediterranean between January 2015 and April 2022, noting that these deaths did not occur "by chance."

The statement claimed that the EU's border protection agency Frontex, particularly under Leggeri's leadership, played a key part in these crimes.

It also suggested that Leggeri altered the agency's purpose, becoming complicit in "crimes against humanity and torture by Libyan and Greek authorities."

The statement also noted that Utopia 56 and LDH filed a complaint against Leggeri on the grounds that he was complicit in the aforementioned "crimes against humanity and torture."

Leggeri resigned from his post at Frontex on April 29, 2022.

He is ranked third on the candidate list of the far-right National Rally Party in France for the European Parliament elections to be held on June 6-9.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi in Istanbul.