CATANIA (ITALPRESS) – Catania State Police, coordinated by the Etna District Prosecutor’s Office, detained four boatmen of Sudanese origin, aged 21, 22 and two 30-year-olds respectively, for aggravated aiding and abetting illegal immigration.
The facts date back to the afternoon of last Nov. 20 when the Spanish-flagged NGO ship “Aita Mari” docked at the Catania port area with 53 migrants of various nationalities on board, rescued in international waters during a SAR rescue event dating back to the early morning hours of Nov. 19.
At the Port of Catania, the migrants were transferred to the via Forcile facility where investigations continued. The Judicial Police activity allowed to shed light on some aspects related mainly to the sea crossing, learning how the dinghy of modest size on which the migrants were traveling had left days earlier from the Libyan coast and then, after long hours of navigation, forced to stop due to a breakdown, before receiving rescue.
The investigation allowed the focus to be on four migrants of Sudanese origin. I 4,
joining the remaining group of migrants only in the stages immediately prior to their departure at sea, allegedly took over command of the boat in various capacities, cooperating with each other in various tasks.
Also converging to support the circumstantial picture would be the results of the personal searches carried out against them, since a number of electronic devices were found in their possession that could be traced back to the role they allegedly played on the boat during the long sea crossing. So they were detained for aiding and abetting illegal immigration, aggravated by involving the illegal entry into the state of more than five people, endangering the lives and safety of those being transported, as well as aggravated because it was committed by more than three people.
– Photo: Photogram Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
