Italy Puts NGO Rescuers of Migrants on Maersk Etienne on Trial
A court in Italy has ordered six activists with the organization Mediterranea Saving Humans to stand trial related to the 2020 rescue of 27 migrants who were stranded in the Mediterranean on the product tanker Maersk Etienne. A lawyer for the NGO is reporting that it is the first time one of these cases has been ordered to go to trial with previous attempts at prosecution stopped either during investigation or at preliminary hearings.
The Italian government has taken an aggressive stance against the NGOs operating in the Mediterranean in an effort to stop the influx of migrants and refugees. The groups which operate more than a dozen rescue vessels contend they are being harassed. After Giorgia Meloni became Prime Minister of Italy in 2022 new rules were put in place giving the Coast Guard added authority over the landing of the migrants. The NGOs contend they are being sent to more distant ports in an effort to disrupt their operations and the ships have been subjected to frequent port inspections.
The new case is being complicated by allegations that the NGO profited from the rescue. Three months after it removed the 27 migrants that had been aboard the tanker for 38 days, Maersk Tankers made a donation of approximately $140,000 to Mediterranea Saving Humans, which reports said was to cover the costs associated with the rescue. Prosecutors are alleging the group’s organizers profited from the donation.
On August 4, 2020, the product tanker Maersk Etienne (37,000 dwt) responded to a call for assistance from a small boat about 70 nautical miles north of Libya and acting on instructions of Maltese rescue coordination officials, took the boat's 27 occupants aboard. However, the tanker then found itself in a standoff with Malta which refused to give permission for the migrants to be landed. The tanker highlighted it did have the facilities to care for 27 people and required assistance.
Mediterranea Saving Humans responded by sending its vessel Mare Jonio, a 1972-built tugboat, to provide aid. Aboard it had a doctor to offer basic medical care. The refugees were transferred to the tugboat but Malta continued to refuse permission to disembark the individuals. They were finally landed in the Italian port of Pozzallo on Sicily.
The captain of the Mare Jonio and three crewmembers are among those being charged with aiding illegal immigration. Among those that the court ordered remanded was the doctor from the rescue boat. It has also remanded the founder of the group, Luca Casarini, a prominent left-wing activist and critic of the government.
The NGO responded saying its team had done nothing wrong and it is the latest case of harassment against its efforts. They allege that prosecutors have been asked several times to pursue cases or to arrest the heads of the organization but grounds were never established. They say that judicial police reports have been prepared and allege a campaign of slander and spying. It recently came out that the founder’s phone had been hacked with spyware.
“We will not be frightened by anyone,” said Casarini after today’s court hearing. “We know very well what we have done: we have helped 27 people, left in the middle of the sea for 38 days. This trial will become an opportunity to ask ministers, governments, and authorities to account for why these people were left in the middle of the sea.”
The group says it will not be intimidated. After the 2020 rescue, its vessel Mare Jonio was held and not able to return to sea till June 2021 but since then they report having conducted dozens of missions. Today, they also announced an agreement with the German group Sea-Eye to take over the Sea-Eye 4, a 1972-built offshore supply ship that is being renamed Mediterranean to continue its rescue missions. At 931 gross tons, it is significantly larger than the Mare Jonio with the group highlighting that it is doubling its rescue efforts.
The court in Ragusa (Sicily) has set October 21 as the date for the first hearing in the trial of the six individuals.