Abdul Bashir tried in Greece over wife's death in refugee camp in 2019
The Ismaili Centre killer is being tried in Greek court for his wife's death in a container in Lesbos. The trial began on 23 October.
Trial in Greece for 2019 homicide in Lesbos
Abdul Bashir, convicted in Portugal for the deaths of two women at the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon, has been in Greece since the end of July, where he is being tried for the death of his wife at a refugee reception centre in Lesbos in 2019. According to the defendant's lawyer, Fátima Oliveira Pires, who spoke to Lusa, the trial began on 23 October, following execution of the European arrest warrant issued by Greek authorities in March 2023.
Observador reported that the temporary handover of Abdul Bashir to Greece was possible after Portugal received confirmation that, even though Greek law provides for a life sentence for the crime of homicide, any conviction would never exceed 25 years — the maximum allowed by Portuguese law. The lawyer underlined this point to Lusa.
According to a judgment from the Lisbon Court of Appeal, which Lusa had access to, the handover is "subject to the condition of the defendant's return to Portugal whenever his physical presence proves necessary, namely for the completion of the collegial psychiatric examination" — proceedings yet to be scheduled — as well as for the trial hearing that will follow the results of that examination and for the serving of the sentence or security measure to be imposed.
The container fire in Lesbos
According to the Greek Public Prosecutor, cited in the judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) of 26 June 2026, Abdul Bashir fled Afghanistan with his family and was placed in the refugee centre in Lesbos in July 2019, following an application for international protection.
In December that year, a fire broke out in the container where the family lived, caused by a gas canister used for heating, "at a time when the defendant's wife and the couple's three children were asleep", according to the STJ judgment. Abdul Bashir removed the children from the burning container, but his wife remained inside and was eventually burned to death.
The Greek Public Prosecutor considered that the defendant "killed a person acting with deliberateness": instead of waking his wife and removing her from bed, he merely left with the children, "since this was his intention from the beginning, by setting the fire". Greek authorities added that, upon seeing a neighbour approach with a fire extinguisher, Abdul Bashir allegedly dissuaded him from entering the container, claiming that the fire was large and that he would be burned.
Greek authorities issued a national arrest warrant in 2022 and a European arrest warrant in 2023. The defendant had been in Portugal since 2021, under a refugee relocation programme.
The proceedings in Portugal
In parallel with the proceedings in Greece, a new trial related to the deaths at the Ismaili Centre is pending in Portugal, which requires a new medical examination to determine whether Abdul Bashir is or is not criminally responsible.
The case dates back to 28 March 2023, when the Afghan killed two women — aged 24 and 49 — who worked in the refugee support service at the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon. Accused of 11 crimes, including two counts of aggravated homicide, he pleaded self-defence at a trial that began in December 2024, and was convicted to 25 years in prison in June 2025, without being declared criminally irresponsible.
In February 2026, the STJ annulled the judgment because the defendant had not been informed that he was no longer being tried as criminally irresponsible. After this formality was observed, the Lisbon Court upheld the 25-year sentence; both the Public Prosecutor and the defence appealed again to the STJ, which determined that the trial be reopened to decide on the question of criminal responsibility.
Source: Observador