Press sources reported on Sunday, that the captain of an Italian-flagged ship is to be tried for allegedly forcing migrants back to Libya, in the first such case in Italy.
The captain and a representative of the Augusta Offshore company that owns the ship are accused of violating international laws that forbid the forced return of people to countries where they or their rights are at risk.
According to the sources, the date of the trial has not been decided yet, but it is expected to start after the summer judicial holiday in August.
The Asso 28 supply ship picked up 101 migrants near an oil and gas rig in international waters, before taking them to the port of Tripoli and handing them over to the Libyan coast guard. Libya is not considered a port of safety under international law.
Among those pulled from the unseaworthy dinghy were five minors and five pregnant women.
Despite the rescue taking place on an Italian-flagged ship which was under Rome’s jurisdiction, no call was made to Italy’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), documents show.
Nicola Fratoianni, MP and the leader of the Italian Left party who was on the rescue ship at the time as an observer said in press statements that the organisation “Open Arms” warned the ship “ASSO 28” that returning the migrants to Libya “was illegal.”
Fratoianni described it as “an explicit collective pushback on the part of a ship flying the Italian flag.”
The trial was key to “getting to the truth behind too frequent episodes in the central Mediterranean,” he said.
“Not just the infinite tragedies, drownings, deaths, but also the illegal pushbacks, which go against all international laws.”