Italy will compensate the German nonprofit Sea Watch more than 76,000 euros for the detention of its ship, the Sea Watch 3, in 2019. The ruling from a court in Palermo stems from a case involving the ship’s then-captain, Carola Rackete, and underscores the legal challenges surrounding migrant rescues in the Mediterranean Sea.
The court determined that the detention of the vessel was unlawful. On June 29, 2019, Rackete intentionally breached a naval blockade of Lampedusa to bring 42 migrants ashore. The Sea Watch 3 was subsequently held from July 12 to December 19, 2019.
The compensation will cover documented expenses incurred between October and December 2019, including port fees, agency costs, fuel to maintain the ship operational, and legal fees, according to reports from Rainews.
Sea Watch initially opposed the detention, filing a challenge with the prefect of Agrigento on September 21, 2019. When no response was received, the organization argued that the seizure should have been automatically lifted under applicable law. However, the ship remained blocked until a court in Palermo ordered its release on December 19, 2019, following an urgent appeal.
“The compensation to Sea-Watch, linked to the Rackete case, demonstrates once again that civil disobedience is far from arrogance, but protection of international law from attacks by those who abuse their position of power to trample on it, to the detriment of the rights and freedoms of all,” said Sea Watch spokesperson Giorgia Linardi, as reported by Newsicilia. “While Italian innovations are resurfacing the corpses of invisible victims of recent weeks, the government, instead of working to prevent future tragedies, continues to identify NGOs as the enemy to be defeated. We, unlike them, do not look the other way.”
The case highlights the ongoing tensions between humanitarian organizations operating in the Mediterranean and Italian authorities seeking to control migration flows, according to TGcom24.
