ROME — A judge in Sicily on Tuesday lifted a house arrest order and freed Carola Rackete, the captain of a ship carrying rescued migrants who had been detained over the weekend after defying the Italian authorities and docking on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.
Captain Rackete had defended her decision to challenge Italy’s closed-ports policy and dock the Dutch-flagged Sea Watch 3, which is owned by a German humanitarian organization, by citing a state of emergency because of the growing exhaustion and desperation among the 40 migrants aboard, who were rescued from a shipwreck on June 12.
After maneuvering the Sea Watch 3 next to a pier in Lampedusa and colliding with a border patrol vessel, Captain Rackete was placed under investigation for resisting a public official and committing an act of resistance or violence against a military ship. Should she go to trial, she faces up to 10 years in prison.
Judge Alessandra Vella ruled Tuesday that Captain Rackete should not be held in a state of detention while prosecutors investigate whether there is sufficient evidence to formally charge and send the 31-year-old German woman to trial. The investigation could continue for up to two years.
In a series of tweets, Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, whose hard line immigration policy has been at the heart of his political ascent, raged against the decision and said that in any case, she would be expelled from Italy.
“For the Italian magistrature, ignoring the law and ramming into a patrol boat of the Financial Police are not sufficient reason to go to jail,” Mr. Salvini wrote immediately after the ruling. “No problem: For the criminal commander a provision to send her back to her country is ready because she is dangerous for national security.”
Next week, Captain Rackete will return before a prosecutor in Sicily to face a count of facilitating illegal immigration. She faces up to 15 years in prison if she is sent to trial and convicted on that charge.
More than 600,000 migrants arrived in Italy from 2014 to 2017, but those numbers dropped dramatically last year after Italy struck a contentious agreement with Libya intended to halt the influx from the North African country, a key point on many migrants’ route.
But migrants continue to arrive by sea, albeit in much smaller numbers. In June alone, more than 1,200 migrants landed after making the journey on smaller vessels, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.
Mr. Salvini had accused Captain Rackete and her crew of willfully putting the lives of Italian officials at risk.
Prosecutors in Sicily had argued during a three-hour, closed-door hearing on Monday afternoon that the maneuver and the collision with the patrol boat had been “voluntary,” Luigi Patronaggio, the chief prosecutor in the city of Agrigento, where the case was heard, told journalists.
Speaking to a parliamentary commission on Tuesday, Mr. Patronaggio said that while the Sea Watch had been making headlines over 53 migrants, “in the same days, in silence, without much ado, more than 200 migrants” had landed on Lampedusa or the coastline near Agrigento, traveling by small boats or saved by the financial police or the Coast Guard.
Captain Rackete’s lawyer, Luca Marino, said that during the hearing, his client had explained that she had not seen the patrol boat while docking the Sea Watch 3 and that she had apologized to the Italian officials aboard.
The Sea Watch was seized Saturday pending the investigation.
Captain Rackete’s challenge to the Italian government’s refusal to accept migrants has made her a hero to some and a criminal to others.
On Monday, as police officers patrolled the courthouse in Agrigento, a group of supporters hoisted a placard at the entrance that read: “Standing by your side Carola.”
In just a few days, supporters in Italy and Germany raised more than 1.3 million euros to cover the costs of Captain Rackete’s legal defense. The German page was organized by television comedians Jan Böhmermann and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf who made a much watched YouTube video calling for donations.
The legal proceedings for Captain Rackete coincided with a Vatican announcement that Pope Francis would celebrate a Mass on Monday for “migrants, refugees and those who are dedicated to saving their lives.”
The invitation-only Mass will be held on the sixth anniversary of the pope’s visit to Lampedusa, which in recent decades has become a gateway to Europe for tens of thousands of asylum seekers and migrants fleeing violence in their home countries or seeking a better life on the Continent.
The Lampedusa trip was Francis’ first official outing as pontiff, and it was taken as a powerful message about his priorities. The pope has since been an outspoken advocate of the rights of migrants and refugees.
Captain Rackete rescued 53 migrants at sea last month. The Italian authorities permitted 13 migrants to disembark for health reasons over a two-week period as the ship remained at sea during the standoff.
The remaining 40 migrants were allowed to disembark early Saturday morning after Captain Rackete made the unilateral decision to dock, and they are expected to be taken in by five European countries, including France and Germany, whose governments have been critical of Italy’s closed-ports policy.
Mr. Marino, Captain Rackete’s lawyer, said she would fight to clear her name. “I don’t think she wants to stay in Italy, but she will be here to defend herself,” he said. “The charges against her are very serious.”
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Sea Watch spokesman Ruben Neugebauer said the humanitarian organization was ready to send another ship to rescue migrants. ”We will continue to ensure that human rights are respected in the Mediterranean, if necessary with a new ship, if ours remains under seizure,” he said, according to the news agency Ansa.
Source : Nytimes
