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PIRAEUS, Greece, July 23 (Reuters) - The trial of a British yacht captain charged with helping 72 illegal immigrants enter Greece on his boat, has been postponed until Wednesday, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
Michael Wood, from Morecambe in Lancashire, was working for an Athens-based yacht hire company on his second voyage when he was arrested on Sunday on the island of Egina. He has said he was an unwitting and unwilling part of the scheme.
Wood, 45, whose trial was scheduled to start on Tuesday, faces up to 10 years jail if convicted of smuggling the Syrians and Iraqis into the country.
"Michael asked for an extension, to be tried tomorrow, so he can prepare his defence," his lawyer, Elisabeth Pouliou, told reporters.
The immigrants have said they paid from $2,000 to $20,000 to make the 31-hour voyage from the Turkish coastal town of Izmir to Greece. The people, including children and babies, were crammed in every corner of the Greek-flagged yacht Elena which was just 15 metres (50 feet) long.
((Angeliki Koutantou, Athens Newsroom, tel +30 10 3311813, fax +30 10 3311829, e-mail athens.newsroom@reuters.com))
Michael Wood, from Morecambe in Lancashire, was working for an Athens-based yacht hire company on his second voyage when he was arrested on Sunday on the island of Egina. He has said he was an unwitting and unwilling part of the scheme.
Wood, 45, whose trial was scheduled to start on Tuesday, faces up to 10 years jail if convicted of smuggling the Syrians and Iraqis into the country.
"Michael asked for an extension, to be tried tomorrow, so he can prepare his defence," his lawyer, Elisabeth Pouliou, told reporters.
The immigrants have said they paid from $2,000 to $20,000 to make the 31-hour voyage from the Turkish coastal town of Izmir to Greece. The people, including children and babies, were crammed in every corner of the Greek-flagged yacht Elena which was just 15 metres (50 feet) long.
((Angeliki Koutantou, Athens Newsroom, tel +30 10 3311813, fax +30 10 3311829, e-mail athens.newsroom@reuters.com))