Rome, Aug. 23 (LaPresse) – “Sea-Watch 5 has been detained for 45 days and fined €7,500. The German-flagged vessel has once again failed to comply with the legal obligations governing operations at sea.” Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced this on X. “This is a serious violation of the regulations: search-and-rescue activities at sea must be managed and coordinated by the competent states, not by NGOs,” added the Interior Minister. The NGO had provided its own account of the events in a statement: “It is true: on Thursday, August 13, after rescuing six people in international waters, we informed Italy and neighboring European countries, but not the so-called Libyan Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, a puppet authority that serves to legitimize and make an acceptable interlocutor of those men and traffickers who, shortly after the rescue, pointed a rifle at us and ordered us to leave ‘their territory,’” the statement said.
Migrants, Piantedosi: “Sea-Watch violated regulations, 45-day detention”
Rome, Aug. 23 (LaPresse) – “Sea-Watch 5 has been detained for 45 days and fined €7,500. The German-flagged vessel has once again failed to comply with the legal obligations governing operations at sea.” Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced this on X. “This is a serious violation of the regulations: search-and-rescue activities at sea must be managed and coordinated by the competent states, not by NGOs,” added the Interior Minister. The NGO had provided its own account of the events in a statement: “It is true: on Thursday, August 13, after rescuing six people in international waters, we informed Italy and neighboring European countries, but not the so-called Libyan Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, a puppet authority that serves to legitimize and make an acceptable interlocutor of those men and traffickers who, shortly after the rescue, pointed a rifle at us and ordered us to leave ‘their territory,’” the statement said.