The investigating judge of Agrigento, Alessandra Vella, has closed the investigation against Carola Rackete, the commander of the Sea Watch3 ship who, in July 2019, was arrested for resistance or violence against a warship.
The Agrigento prosecutor had asked not to try the German commander and the investigating judge, who had not already validated the arrest, closed the case.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, which in fact transposed the thesis of the investigating judge which was then confirmed by the Supreme Court, the commander would have acted out of a state of necessity: she had the "duty to bring migrants to a safe harbor", as she could no longer guarantee safety aboard the 42 people rescued 17 days earlier, whom the then Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini did not want to disembark. During the approach to the port, the Sea Watch3 also hit a patrol boat of the Guardia di Finanza.