Neither Mediterranea Saving Humans nor Maersk has denied the €125,000 ($151,000/£108,000) payment was made to the NGO in late November. The Mare Jonio had transferred 27 migrants from the Danish company’s vessel on September 11th.
Both parties have claimed that the money was a donation made to cover the ship’s costs and its crew, who later took the migrants to Italy.
Italian prosecutors, meanwhile, have claimed both the NGO and Maersk had negotiated a cash payment and that the NGO had originally demanded as much as €275,000 ($331,000/£237,000).
“After this investigation,” Casarini said, “which will perhaps last years, it will prove that the intent was something else: to smear, block, prevent, control the freedom of people who go out to help at sea. In the end, we will see.”
US JOURNALIST Naomi Klein and philosopher Cornel West joined European human rights activists and academics today in their call today to help raise funds for a refugee rescue charity under legal attack in Italy.
The public prosecutor’s office in the Sicilian region of Ragusa brought charges against Mediterranea: Saving Humans earlier this month, accusing the NGO of “facilitating illegal immigration.”
The charges relate to an incident involving Mediterranea’s rescue ship Mare Jonio and a commercial vessel in the Mediterranean Sea last summer.
The Etienne, a container ship operated by Danish firm Maersk, rescued the 27 people in August within Malta’s search-and-rescue zone. However, the island nation refused to allow the ship to enter its waters, keeping the refugees and the crew in a state of limbo in international waters for five weeks.
5 Mar 2021
The Italian migrant transport NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans has been accused of taking €125,000 to transport illegal aliens, with new claims alleging the group initially asked for as much as €270,000.
The claims revolve around a ship belonging to the Danish company Maersk which picked up 27 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea in August of last year. The NGO is accused of negotiating a payment to transfer the migrants to its transport vessel, the Mare Jonio, weeks later, on September 11th.
In November, Maersk reportedly transferred €125,000 ($151, 000/£108,000) to Idra Social Shipping, the company that owns the Mare Jonio. It is claimed that the money was negotiated before the NGO picking up the migrants and that initially the group had asked for €275,000 ($331,000/£237,000),
Med: Italy Steps up Criminalisation of the Civil Fleet as Dozens Die at Sea
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The crack down on the civil fleet by Italian authorities has intensified on several fronts over the course of the past two weeks. Criminal investigations were opened against parties involved in the rescue of 27 survivors in August 2020 that was followed by the longest stand-off in recent European maritime history. Following the closure of investigations related to the Iuventa rescue ship, Italian authorities have charged 21 individuals and 3 organisations of aiding and abetting illegal immigration. The Sea Watch 4 civil rescue ship, operated by Sea Watch International, was finally released after six months of seizure by Italian authorities, while the case is still pending before the European Court of Justice. Its sister ship Sea Watch 3, also recently released after a seven months blockade, rescued 363 people in distress between 26 and 28 February and more than 400 people were rescued by the civil re
InfoMigrants By ANSA Published on : 2021/03/04
More than 5,300 migrants and refugees have arrived on Italy s coasts irregularly so far in 2021. That s more than twice the number of people who arrived during the same period in 2020. Meanwhile, the number of migrants intercepted and returned to Libya reportedly also increased.
The Italian interior ministry released new data on migrant sea arrivals on Tuesday. According to the ministry, 5,306 migrants and refugees landed on Italy s coasts between January 1 and March 2 of this year. During the same period in 2020, only 2,553 migrants and refugees arrived on Italian shores.
A majority of arrivals thus far this year (3,896) were registered in February, including 398 minors.