According to the Italian judiciary, the German aid organization Sea-Watch did not misbehave in relation to the rescue of 47 refugees from the Mediterranean. Although the prosecutor in Catania expressed a concern today in the suitability of the ship „Sea-Watch 3“ for the sea rescue in the Mediterranean. But she could not find any violations of the law.
Two weeks at sea
The „Sea-Watch 3“ had been rescued from the sea for almost two weeks before being allowed to land in Italy on Thursday after a European solution to take on the humans. The Italian coastguard stated that the vessel had to stay in the port because of irregularities.
The public prosecutor’s office had initiated inter alia due to the facilitation of illegal migration investigations against unknown, she said. The goal: to identify the Libyan traffickers who organized the descent of the people from the coast of the Civil War, as well as those who steered the boat before the Sea Watch team intervened.
Salvini attacked Sea-Watch
Among other things, Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini accused Sea-Watch of having traveled to Italy instead of flying to nearby Tunisia following the rescue of the refugees „in the middle of a storm“. The weather was still good, as the „Sea-Watch 3“ in the direction of Lampedusa was controlled, the judiciary made clear.
That the captain then decided to continue to the east coast of Sicily instead of Tunisia was „justified“. Otherwise the ship would have moved towards the approaching low. In addition, the Tunisian authorities have denied the NGO in the past also to stock up on supplies.
