Sea-Watch spokeswoman says judge ruling on Carola Rackete re-establishes Italy's dignity

Record ID: 1421868

  • Title: Sea-Watch spokeswoman says judge ruling on Carola Rackete re-establishes Italy's dignity
  • Date: 3rd July 2019
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (JULY 3, 2019) (REUTERS) SEA-WATCH SPOKESWOMAN GIORGIA LINARDI ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SEA-WATCH SPOKESWOMAN, GIORGIA LINARDI, SAYING: "(Sea-Watch 3 captain) Carola (Rackete) is fine but obviously, having spent these days in isolation, she did not realise the resonance the affair - and how she handled it - is having. When she was arrested she only asked if the people on board would be allowed to disembark and she repeated this question for the following hours until she was then taken away under house arrest. From her concern, I realised that a reasonable judge could not have done anything other than what was done." CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SEA-WATCH SPOKESWOMAN, GIORGIA LINARDI, SAYING: "Carola is a completely free person today. At the moment there is a particular interest on the part of the Minister of the Interior (Matteo Salvini) for Carola to be expelled but in this very moment, the prosecutor does not authorise the expulsion to go on with the judicial activity and to be able to listen to her and question her on July 9. She is free to go to Germany if she wants but she is not obliged to do it." CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SEA-WATCH SPOKESWOMAN, GIORGIA LINARDI, SAYING: "To view a humanitarian ship carrying people rescued at sea, and which just wants to bring them safely to a safe harbour, as the biggest and most urgent threat to security and public order makes this country look ridiculous. I would, therefore, say that at least yesterday's ruling re-establishes a little order with respect to the hierarchy of norms and also re-establishes the dignity of this country." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2019 14:17
  • Keywords: Sea-Watch captain Carola Rackete Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini migrants Doctors Without Borders Mediterranea Open Arms Italy
  • Location: ROME, ITALY
  • City: ROME, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001AM85MBR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Sea-Watch spokeswoman Giorgia Linardi on Wednesday (July 3) greeted the release of Sea-Watch 3 captain Carola Rackete and confirmed she is not obliged to go back to Germany.
    Speaking during a news conference at the Foreign Press Club in Rome, Linardi confirmed that Rackete, a 31-year-old German captain who angered Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini by bringing African migrants to an Italian island, is fine, even if she is currently in a secret location after receiving threats.
    An Italian judge on Tuesday (July 2) ordered Rackete released from house arrest where she had been held since Saturday (June 29), when she disobeyed Italian military orders and entered the port of Lampedusa.
    Rackete had faced up to 10 years in prison on possible charges of endangering the lives of four policemen for hitting a patrol boat at the quay as she brought around 40 African migrants to land in the Sea-Watch vessel.
    Judge Alessandra Vella ruled that the captain had not broken the law by crashing through a naval blockade, saying that by bringing rescued migrants to port she was carrying out her duty to protect life.
    Far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he was "disgusted" by the ruling. His League party last month introduced rules effectively closing Italy's ports to rescue ships, threatening transgressors with fines of up to 50,000 euros ($56,500) and the impounding of their vessels.
    (Production: Cristiano Corvino, Gabriele Pileri, Fabiano Franchitti)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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