Italy drops Carola Rackete charges
December 23, 2021
Italian authorities have dropped the last charge of aiding illegal migration against Carola Rackete, according to a court statement on Thursday.
The former captain of German rescue ship Sea-Watch 3 had been under investigation after she was detained in Italy in June 2019 for refusing to stand down in the face of military orders. Italian authorities said the Sea-Watch vessel did not have permission to dock.
Saving lives
But Rackete said at the time she was "doing her duty" to save lives.
The ship still carries out migrant rescues in the central Mediterranean, where people are often found in distress as they try to reach Europe.
The interior minister in Italy in the summer of 2019 was far-right politician Matteo Salvini, who pushed a tough anti-migration stance and remained on a collision course with Rackete.
Salvini has been accused of deprivation of liberty and abuse of authority, for which he could face up to 15 years in prison, if found guilty.
Acted lawfully
On Thursday, the court and Sea-Watch confirmed in a statement that Rackete acted lawfully under her duty to protect people. That decision was based on the fact that another port — in the Libyan capital Tripoli — could not have been considered a "place of safety" and that a vessel can only serve as a place of sanctuary for a certain period of time.
jsi/aw (dpa, KNA)