Photographer Richard Mosse detained by Greek police while documenting anti-refugee rally

Irish photographer Richard Mosse was apprehended by undercover officers on the Greek island of Chios while observing a local demonstration against refugees. The 2017 Prix Pictet laureate reported being forcibly taken to the ground by plainclothes police shortly after arriving at the gathering. He spent several hours confined in a police cell before being freed following intervention from Greek photographer Daphne Tolis, who informed authorities about his prestigious award presented by Kofi Annan. Mosse shared details of the incident via Instagram, contrasting the hostility he witnessed on Chios with the compassion he'd experienced from residents of Lesbos. He described Chios residents as regularly throwing rocks at refugees and having burned a refugee camp months earlier. The photographer expressed concern that his treatment as an EU citizen wearing black clothing—which police apparently associated with anarchists—raised serious questions about how stateless refugees are handled. During his detention, Mosse attempted to communicate with a Kurdish refugee from Kobane, an experience he characterized as eye-opening. The Art Newspaper originally reported the arrest, which occurred while Mosse was documenting tensions surrounding refugee issues in the region.