This is the end of almost six years of legal proceedings.
The Italian Court of Cassation has declared that the disembarkation in Libya of migrants recovered in the Mediterranean was illegal.
The Court of Cassation definitively confirmed the conviction of the captain of the Asso 28, an Italian tugboat which rescued 101 migrants in an inflatable boat in 20148... before disembarking them in Libya.
The rescue took place in international waters, about 105 km off the coast of Libya, the court heard.
The latter added that among the migrants, pregnant women and children were present.
The captain, whose name was deleted from the copy of the judgment sent to the press for reasons of confidentiality, was sentenced to one year of imprisonment for the crimes of abandoning minors or incapable persons, for arbitrary disembarkation and abandonment of people.
He is unlikely to go to prison, however, because in the Italian system, prison sentences of less than four years are generally not served behind bars.
Also read: Italy: is Meloni's migration policy a failure?
NGOs satisfied
The decision ultimately confirms two previous judgments.
It was delivered on February 1, but was only released to the Italian press and media two weeks later, during the weekend of February 17-18.
The head of the Italian government, Giorgia Meloni, was elected on the promise of putting an end to illegal immigration.
But since coming to power, she has been faced with an explosion in the number of landings on the coasts of the Italian peninsula, with illegal crossings by the central Mediterranean route having exploded in 2023.
The Court of Cassation's decision was welcomed by migrant aid NGOs and human rights groups.
“Now there is also a legal precedent that confirms what we have been saying for years: Libya is not a safe country
,” migrant rescue group Mediterranea Saving Humans said on X.
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Violation of international law?
Amnesty International's Italian office also welcomed the verdict and criticized the Italian government for its cooperation with Libyan authorities on migration.
“Pushing people back to Libya and collaborating with the so-called (Libyan) coast guard conflicts with the duty to bring rescued people to a safe place
,” he said.
International maritime law - the SOLAS conventions of 1974, SAR of 1979 and Montego Bay (1982) - requires rescue at sea to any person in difficulty, without discrimination based on nationality or status (migrant or simple navigator).
The SAR Convention (for
Search and
rescue in French) of 1979 divides the international waters of the Mediterranean into several SAR zones devolved to each of the signatory States.
When a rescue takes place, the state responsible for the area must assign a “
safe port
” where migrants can disembark.
But NGOs say that the Libyan authorities do not respond and then turn to the European coast guards, most often Italian.
In 2018, the behavior of Asso 28 attracted the attention of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which was concerned about a possible
“violation of international law”
.