The fourth alleged smuggler of the boat loaded with migrants was arrested, whose shipwreck in Cutro, at dawn on 26 February last, caused the confirmed death of 72 people and an as yet unknown number of missing.
It is a Turkish citizen, Gun Ufuk, aged 28, who after the shipwreck managed to get away and make himself untraceable.
Ufuk, according to what has been learned, was tracked down in Austria.
The arrest warrant issued by the investigating judge of Crotone, Michele Ciociola, was pending on Gun Ufuk's account, after the validation of the detentions of the alleged smugglers.
The other three arrested are a Turk and two Pakistanis, one of whom is a minor.
Ufuk would have been the person entrusted with the task of steering the caique which, a few tens of meters from the shore, in front of the coast of 'Steccato' di Cutro, collided with a shoal, throwing its human cargo into the sea.
Furthermore, the Turkish citizen would also have performed the functions of a mechanic, intervening several times when the engine of the
boat has experienced some problems.
At the moment there are no details on the elements that allowed the investigators to track down the smuggler in Austria and arrest him.
Meeting between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini at Palazzo Chigi.
It was an opportunity to take stock of the situation with particular reference to the
immigration dossier.
Full harmony
has been confirmed , also in view of the new measures that will be examined by the next Council of Ministers on Thursday.
This was announced by majority sources who underline the unity of the coalition.
Palazzo Chigi joins the condolences expressed in Parliament by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, for the tragedy of the shipwreck of Cutro, and expresses his applause for the punctual exposition of the facts.
Pending the outcome of the investigations by the judiciary, it clearly emerged from this exposure that, at the time of Frontex's report, the vessel had no navigation problems.
The shipwreck cannot therefore be the responsibility of the Coast Guard or the Guardia di Finanza who operated with correctness". This is stated in a note from Palazzo Chigi. "
As Minister Piantedosi underlined, there were no shortcomings in the rescue operations, the tragedy was therefore caused by the criminal behavior of the smugglers".
"Palazzo Chigi expresses deep satisfaction with the words addressed to Italy and to the action of the executive on the issue of migration by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in response to a letter
that the Prime Minister had sent to major European institutions in the aftermath of the Cutro tragedy".
This can be read in a note from Palazzo Chigi.
"From the words of the President of the Commission - it is explained - in fact emerges the full awareness of how there is a need for a concrete and immediate European response on the subject of migration".
ANSA. it
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Another victim recovered in Cutro, a 3-year-old girl (ANSA)
Eleven applause, all from the benches of the majority senators, underlined as many passages of the report by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, on the shipwreck of migrants off the coast of Cutro, in progress in the Senate.
The opposition is silent.
Only a few hints of disappointment expressed on a couple of occasions such as when the minister, just like in Montecitorio, read the list of migrants who died under the previous governments and then when he spoke of his displeasure at the misunderstanding of his statements.
At the rumble of the center-left, some senators from the center-right shouted: 'Stop it'.
At the end of the briefing, the parliamentarians of the majority stood up.
I was referring to the gravity of the smugglers' criminal conduct when, with emotion, indignation and anger and in my eyes the heartrending image of all those innocent victims, I appealed so that people's lives no longer end up in the hands of ignoble criminals, in any way wanting to blame the victims. I am deeply sorry that the meaning of my words has been interpreted differently. The sensitivity and principles of human solidarity that have inspired my personal life have been the beacon, in over thirty years at the service of the institutions and of the citizens, of my every action and decision". Thus the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, in his report to the Chamber on the events of Cutro.
"First of all, I want to renew my personal condolences and those of the whole Government, for the victims of this latest tragic shipwreck and my closeness to their families and survivors".
Thus the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, in his report to the Chamber on the events of Cutro.
The balance "is not yet definitive", but "the updates received from the Prefecture of Crotone bring the number of victims to 72, of which 28 are minors, while there are 80 survivors. Of these, 54 are welcomed in the local reception center for asylum seekers , 12 in the Sai System in Crotone, 8 are hospitalized, 2 unaccompanied minors have been placed in dedicated facilities and 3 subjects, presumably smugglers, have been arrested".
Thus the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, in his report to the Chamber on the events of Cutro.
"For the necessary reconstruction of the facts, which must take place in that venue, the Prosecutor of the Republic of Crotone is investigating the matter.
We will therefore await the outcome of the judicial investigations with trust and respect". "Having heard the news of the shipwreck, I immediately went to Cutro to express my condolences for the victims and the closeness to the survivors, as well as to the Local administrations.
Here too I would like to address a word of profound gratitude to Calabria
which has always welcomed the many migrants who land on its shores with solidarity and generosity and which faces this tragedy with uncommon composure and dignity
"
.
, Matteo Piantedosi, in his report to the Chamber on the events of Cutro.
"Based on the elements acquired by the Ministry of Justice,
the smugglers decide to disembark in a place deemed safer and at night, fearing that there could be checks in the predicted location;
the plan envisaged the arrival close to the sandy shore, with the subsequent disembarkation and flight to the mainland".
Thus the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, in his report to the Chamber on the events of Cutro.
Around 4 am on Sunday "a telephone distress call arrives on the 112 emergency number from an international number that was geolocated by the operator
of the Operations Center of the Provincial Command of the Carabinieri of Crotone and communicated, with the geographical coordinates, to the Operations Room of the Port Authority of Crotone.
This is the precise moment in which, for the first time, the need for relief for the Italian authorities materializes". Thus the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, in his report to the Chamber of Deputies on the events of Cutro. after the shipwreck, navigation "continued until 3.50 am, when, about 200 meters from the coast, flashing lights from the beach were seen from the boat and at that point the smugglers, fearing the presence of the police along the coast, carried out a sharp turn in an attempt to change direction to get away from that stretch of sea.
At that juncture,
It is essential to clarify that the activation of the entire SAR system (search and rescue, ed) cannot be separated from a signal of an emergency situation.
Only and exclusively if there is this signal, the Sar device is activated.
Where, on the other hand, a distress is not reported, the operational event is managed as a police intervention, also due to what was observed earlier regarding the rescue capacity of our naval units.
This is exactly what happened in the case in question" specifies Piantedosi.
"From 22 October 2022 to 27 February 2023, our Authorities managed 407 SAR events, rescuing 24,601 people
.
In the same period, in the course of 300 police operations to combat illegal immigration, the Guardia di Finanza alone rescued 11,888 people.
For a total, between Sar and law enforcement, of 36,489 people saved.
Therefore, data in hand, it is completely unfounded that the law enforcement missions are not able to carry out rescues as well" specified the leader of the Lega group, Massimiliano Romeo. p>
Shipwreck, Piantedosi: 'Serious falsehood that the government prevents relief efforts'
"The need to protect life always has priority, whatever the initial nature of the operational intervention at sea.
In other words, the law enforcement activities, which are headed by the Ministry of the Interior, and those of rescue at sea, which are the responsibility of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, require cooperation and synergy whenever the concrete operational contexts require it, and above all when it comes to safeguarding the safety of people at sea", specifies the minister.
"The national regulatory framework, which is also subject to international constraints with specific regard to the matter of sea rescue,
has absolutely not been modified by the current Government
or.
Moreover, the technical-operational modalities of the rescues cannot in any way be subjected to conditioning of a political nature or to interventions outside the chain of command.
Therefore, to claim that the rescue operations would have been conditioned or even prevented by the Government constitutes a serious falsehood which offends, above all, the honor and professionalism of our operators engaged daily at sea, in particularly difficult scenarios". Matteo Piantedosi, in his report to the Chamber on the events of Cutro.
Precisely to interrupt the "tragic sequence" of deaths at sea, "on the assumption that the main, immediate and direct cause is constituted by the criminal networks dedicated to aiding and abetting irregular immigration and that the root cause lies in the persistent and growing imbalances between the North and Southern hemisphere, this Government has finally brought the migration issue back to the center of the political agenda, in a transversal way with respect to all the dimensions along which its action is carried out: at the national level; at the European level; with the countries of transit and departure of flows".
Thus the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, who will report to the Senate at 3 pm.
ANSA agency
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We need a Mare Nostrum EU (ANSA)
