Former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini faces defamation charges because he called ex-Sea-Watch captain Carola Rackete a 'rich and spoilt communist', among other things. Now, the court wants senators to decide whether Salvini's comments were protected by parliamentary privilege.
A Milan court has begun hearing a defamation case against Matteo Salvini. The Italian politician is charged with having damaged the reputation of Carola Rackete, who captained the Sea-Watch 3 migrant rescue ship.
The leader of the right-wing League party, Matteo Salvini, will go on trial on June 9 on charges of defaming the former commander of the Sea-Watch 3 migrant rescue ship Carola Rackete when he was interior minister in 2019. He called her "litter braggart", "German criminal", "rich German outlaw".
A year after she was arrested for bringing 53 rescued migrants ashore in Italy without permission, sea captain Carola Rackete says nothing has fundamentally changed for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. The German activist also endorsed a campaign against the EU border agency Frontex.
Sea-Watch has been rescuing refugees from drowning in the Mediterranean for five years. An exhibition at the Frankfurt Weltkulturen museum aims to remind people of the issue. DW talked to curator Jelka Kretzschmar.
Sea Watch captain Carola Rackete did her duty in landing rescued migrants at Lampedusa last summer, Italy’s highest court has ruled. Rescuing people ''implies the consequent obligation to disembark'' passengers "in a safe place," the court argued.
The Italian Court of Cassation has rejected an appeal filed by the prosecutor's office against an order to release Carola Rackete, the captain of the Sea-Watch 3 migrant rescue vessel. In June 2019, Rackete was temporarily arrested after she illegally entered the Italian port of Lampedusa with 40 migrants on board.
Sea-Watch 3 has vowed to return to sea and rescue migrants after a five-month detainment in a Sicilian port by Italian authorities. Two other rescue boats, Alex and the Mare Jonio, are still being held.
An Italian newspaper claims that three of the 40 rescued migrants who came to Italy in June with German NGO ship Sea-Watch 3 ran a migrant detention center near in Libya where migrants were tortured. Police allegedly concealed their arrest, which happened on the day of their disembarkation.
She is the sea captain who stood up to Italy's former interior minister Matteo Salvini. In late June, as Salvini refused to take in migrants, Carola Rackete defied authorities and entered the port of Lampedusa in southern Italy, where she disembarked 42 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by her humanitarian ship, the Sea-Watch 3. The German captain was arrested but a court ordered her release. She spoke to FRANCE 24's Marc Perelman.
Migration caused by natural disasters and violent conflict is on the rise: In the first half of 2019 alone, more than 10 million new people lost their homes due to extreme weather and political instability. Humanitarians and activists are warning of a "climate apartheid" and an "unprecedented" threat to human rights.
A ceremony to mark Catalonia's national day honored the German captain of the rescue ship "Sea-Watch 3," who helped save the lives of 40 refugees. The medal was presented by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.