Italian authorities impound German NGO rescue vessel for 'facilitating illegal immigration'

VIDEO - Lampedusa, Italy 02.08.2017 – Italian Coast Guard boards the German NGO vessel "Iuventa": http://videofq.meride.tv/fq2/video/folder85/ANSA95126_mp4_fq2.mp4

[02.08.2017]

The "Iuventa" vessel of the German NGO "Jugend Rettet" which did not adhere to the code of conduct was intercepted off Lampedusa overnight and subsequently escorted by the Italian Coast Guard back to port for inspection.

Several coast guard cutters were deployed to escort the "Iuventa" and security was tight around the peer where the vessel docked. Initially the Lampedusa Port Authority Chief - Lieutenant Paolo Monaco who boarded and inspected the vessel for over two hours said: "It is only a routine procedure that needs to be conducted. We will now control documents of the entire crew and if everything is in order the vessel may leave Lampedusa".

On board the ship, during the inspection two Syrian citizens were found which were later escorted to a local refugee reception facility.

Later in the afternoon in an official statement of the Italian Police it was announced that the German NGO "Iuventa" vessel which regularly conducts rescues of migrants near the Libyan coast was impounded in connection with the investigation opened already in October and during which sufficient information was uncovered suggesting that the vessel was used "to aid and abet in clandestine immigration".

The district prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio who sought and obtained the court order to seize the boat said: "The seizure of the vessel was requested to prevent recurrence of the crime. There are three controversial episodes - he added - but there are other occurrences which will help to argue the case that this is a commonplace behavior".

This is not just a simple preventive measure. The vessel seizure is linked to a much larger investigation by the district prosecutor office in collaboration with the mobile team in Trapani and the Central Operational Service of the Anti-Crime Police Directorate. The Trapani prosecutors Ambrogio Cartosio and his deputy Andrea Tarondo are currently investigating all NGOs in the alleged collaboration with human traffickers.

* NOTE * The NGO “Jugend Rettet e.V.” was founded in 2015 in Germany with the objective of migrant rescue in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship “Iuventa” was bought two years ago in Emden, Germany and underwent a conversion from an old fishing cutter to a vessel adapted for NGO needs & purposes. The vessel is currently registered in Amsterdam under the Dutch flag.

German NGO official website: https://jugendrettet.org/en/  and Twitter: https://twitter.com/jugendrettet?lang=de

02.08.2017  Lampedusa - Police seizing the German NGO vessel "Iuventa"


Source:

* 02.08.2017 - La Stampa - "Intercepted crew conversations on-board the "Iuventa" / Le intercettazioni dell’equipaggio a bordo della Iuventa": http://www.lastampa.it/2017/08/02/multimedia/italia/cronache/le-intercettazioni-dellequipaggio-a-bordo-della-iuventa-K9t52R1PcFkyhYjOox6y0J/pagina.html
* 02.08.2017 - tg24.sky.it - "Migrants, NGO seized ship. The Prosecutor's Office: contacts with traffickers / Migranti, sequestrata nave Ong. La Procura: contatti con i trafficanti": http://tg24.sky.it/cronaca/2017/08/02/migranti-sequestro-nave-iuventa-ong-lampedusa.html
* 02.08.2017 - La Stampa - "NGO ship stopped and seized off Lampedusa. Investigation alleged collaborations with the traffickers / Nave di una Ong fermata e sequestrata al largo di Lampedusa. Si indaga su presunte collaborazioni con gli scafisti": http://www.lastampa.it/2017/08/02/italia/cronache/migranti-nave-ong-fermata-al-largo-di-lampedusa-etw7ZCW0tUxXQ8IAEX9k8I/pagina.html
* 02.08.2017 - La Repubblica - Migrants, Trapani prosecutor seizes ship: 'collaboration between German NGOs and traffickers' / Migranti, procura Trapani sequestra nave Iuventa: "Intese tra Ong tedesca e trafficanti": http://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2017/08/02/news/migranti_codice_ong_in_vigore_fermata_nave_in_mare_per_controlli-172151820/
* 02.08.2017 - Times & Colonist - "Italy seizes German group's rescue boat in immigration probe": http://www.timescolonist.com/italy-seizes-german-group-s-rescue-boat-in-immigration-probe-1.21552009