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Captain sentenced to one year in prison for pushback

The Court of Cassation, the highest Italian court in Rome, has sentenced Giuseppe Sotgiu, the captain of the “Asso Ventotto”, to one year in prison because he rescued a total of 101 refugees from distress at sea on July 30, 2018 and then handed them over to the Libyan Coastguard. They were then brought back to Libya. Among them were children and pregnant women. The Court of Cassation considered this to be a criminal abandonment of vulnerable people seeking protection. The captain failed to check whether the people wanted to apply for asylum. The crew of the ship had discovered a dinghy floating in international waters around 105 kilometers off the Libyan coast. The captain and the ship's owner Augusta Offshore claimed in court that they then contacted the MRCC in Rome and Tripoli. However, this could not be proven. The “Asso Ventotto” sails under the Italian flag, which is why the government in Rome is responsible for investigations and prosecution. This jurisdiction also applies if a ship like the “Asso Ventotto” is sailing within the Libyan SAR zone, as regulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The judge's verdict against the captain of the "Asso Ventotto" was dated Feb 1, 2024. With the ruling, the Court of Cassation confirmed two previous decisions of the Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal of Naples. They had imposed prison sentences on the captain in the first and second instances for improper behaviour and failure to involve maritime emergency control centers. The Spanish civil rescue organization Open Arms had discovered the pushback by the “Asso Ventotto”, which made the investigation by the Italian public prosecutor’s office possible.

Captain prisoned for returning migrants to Libya

A court in Naples has convicted the captain of the 'ASso Ventotto', now sailing as 'Utty Jean', for returning 101 migrants rescued at sea to Libya on Oct 14, 2021. The verdict issued by judge Maria Luisa Miranda, was the first of its kind in Italy and has been welcomed by human rights groups. The ship's captain, Giuseppe Sotgiu, was found guilty of abandonment-related charges and sentenced to one year in prison. However, the court absolved the defendant of the most serious charge - abuse of office - according to a copy of the sentence.

UNHCR investigaton: Did return of migrants to Libya breach international law?

The case of the "Asso Ventotto" rescue operation was under investigation by the UNHCR. The ship initially had rescued 108 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, but returned them to Libya which may have been a breach of international law, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. The agency launched an investigation after Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish search and rescue charity, said the migrants were brought to Libya on July 30. Under international law, people rescued in international waters cannot be returned to a place where their lives are put in danger. The UN is investigating whether the Italian Coast guard directed the migrants’ return, which if confirmed, could constitute illegal “pushback”. The ship's owner Augusta Offshore said the rescue took place in the so-called SAR, a search and rescue area that Libyan officials laid out in June, but has not been recognised by international bodies, and the "Asso Ventotto" was directed by the Libyan Coast Guard, which accompanied the vessel to Tripoli. Nicola Fratoianni, an Italian MP on board a nearby Spanish rescue vessel, said the Italian Coast guard was at least informed of the operation. “If the operation were directed by the Italian Coast Guard, it would set a very serious precedent. Iit would constitute “a genuine and actual pushback for which the captain and Italy will answer for to a court”. The UNHCR spokesperson in Italy, Federico Fossi, said the agency needed to establish more facts “to determine what were the responsibilities and who was responsible”. Italy has been found guilty of illegal pushback before.