The charges against crew members of the ship Iuventa, operated by the German NGO Jugend Rettet, along with personnel from Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), were found to be baseless, according to a recent court ruling. The Italian court acquitted all defendants last month, stating that the NGOs had not committed any crime nor cooperated with people smugglers during their rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
The court’s detailed reasons for judgment, released on May 23rd 2024, revealed that the investigators had not thoroughly evaluated all available evidence. The preliminary hearings judge criticized the focus on certain elements of limited relevance, which led to an incomplete picture of the events. The judge also questioned the prosecutors in Trapani, Sicily, for their decision to present conclusions based on an interpretation of facts that did not align with the evidence gathered during the preliminary hearing.
Attorneys for Jugend Rettet—Francesca Cancellato, Sandro Gamberini, and Nicola Canestrini—emphasized that the ruling exposed the political exploitation of smear campaigns against NGOs. The lengthy judgment highlighted the non-existence of any crime and dismissed the notion of cooperation between NGO personnel and human traffickers. The court found that the investigation relied heavily on data from the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (IMRCC) without adequately considering additional elements such as recordings of phone conversations between the IMRCC and the rescue vessels.
The court’s decision firmly established that the NGO workers did not collude with traffickers. The evidence presented during the preliminary hearing demonstrated unequivocally that the charges lacked substance, leaving no room for alternative interpretations. This ruling is a significant vindication for the NGOs involved, reaffirming their humanitarian mission in rescuing migrants in distress at sea.