Refugee rescuers charged in Italy with complicity in people smuggling Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo © Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Reuters
After an investigation lasting almost four years, Italian prosecutors have charged dozens of rescuers, from charities including Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières, who were accused of collaborating with people smugglers after saving thousands of people from drowning in the Mediterranean.
Investigators in Trapani, Sicily, formally closed the inquiry on Monday and charged more than 20 people, including boat captains, heads of mission and legal representatives, with crimes carrying sentences of up to 20 years.
As reported by La Repubblica, at least three rescue boats are at the centre of the charges: Iuventa, a former fishing vessel run by the German NGO Jugend Rettet, Vos Hestia, operated by Save the Children, and Vos Prudence, run by MSF.
Italy to charge NGO workers with aiding illegal immigration from Libya
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Refugee rescuers charged in Italy with complicity in people smuggling
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Italian Magistrates Set To Level Charges Against Sea
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Italian magistrates set to level charges against sea rescuers, NGOs
FILE PHOTO: Ronia, 24, a member of the German NGO Jugend Rettet watches rescuers from the Save the Children NGO transferring migrants from the vessel Iuventa to their ship after her organisation rescued them from an overcrowded dinghy during an operation off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra reuters tickers
This content was published on March 3, 2021 - 20:20
March 3, 2021 - 20:20
By Crispian Balmer
ROME (Reuters) - A German aid group that operated a migrant rescue boat in the Mediterranean said on Wednesday Italian magistrates were set to charge 21 individuals and three human rights groups with aiding illegal immigration from Libya.