"We Rescued 14,000 Refugees. Now We’re Facing Prison Time For It."

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We Saved 14,000 People From Drowning in the Mediterranean – and Italy Wants to Imprison Us for It The Iuventa Crew: On Saturday 21 May in the seaside spot of Trapani, Sicily, four of us – crew members from the search-and-rescue ship Iuventa – will face an Italian prosecutor. The charge against us? Running rescue missions that potentially saved over 14,000 people from drowning in the central Mediterranean.  It should never have fallen to volunteers to be leading humanitarian rescue operations in a heavily policed sea patrolled by the coastguards and navies of some of the world's most powerful nations. But initially there was a cooperative and productive relationship with the Italian coastguard and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre.They had to acknowledge us as a significant part of the necessary rescue efforts, and would routinely send us to distress calls.  Little did we know that from 2016, the institutions we worked with were spying on us. One night in August 2017, we'd just completed a rescue mission. Three coastguard boats, blue sirens flashing, came to escort us into Lampedusa port in southern Italy. Upon entering the port, the blue lights revealed a mass of waiting people – journalists and police. The entire Iuventa crew was later arrested. Our ship was seized and impounded. We have waited five years for our trial date and may have to wait far longer for the result. CONTINUE READING ➡︎ Picks of the week... OPINION What the British Media is Missing About the Rise of Sinn Féin by Ciarán O'Rourke In its analysis of Sinn Féin's recent success in Northern Ireland, there's one thing the British media is ignoring, argues Ciarán O'Rourke: the party speaks the language of social democracy. Read more... LONG READ The Next World War Could Be Over the Arctic by James Meadway The Arctic Council is collapsing over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, writes James Meadway, setting the stage for a geopolitical conflict of epic proportions. Read more... READ MORE ON NOVARAMEDIA.COM ➡︎ As a truly independent media outlet, we're able to commission articles you're unlikely to find anywhere else. We don't have billionaire funders. We don't answer to corporate advertising partnerships. All we have is an audience of people who believe in what we do.  Each month, 10,000 of you regularly tune into our podcasts. 100,000 of you browse our website. Our Youtube channel gets 2.5 million views. This has all been possible thanks to just 6,000 regular supporters backing us each month. Imagine what we could do with 10,000 of you backing us. Defy mainstream media. Join our regular supporters from just £1 per month today. Copyright © 2022 Thousand Hands Ltd. All rights reserved. You can choose which emails you receive from Novara Media (including our newsletters 'The Cortado' and 'The Pick', updates on what we're working on and ways you can support our work). Manage your preferences here. Thousand Hands Ltd is a private company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales #11245029. Its registered address is 10 Bridge Street, Christchurch, BH23 1EF. Novara Media is a trading name of Thousand Hands Ltd and, as such, the individual shall have no personal liability arising out of such communication, and liability or obligation rests solely with Novara Media. Opinions or advice contained in this email are subject to the terms and conditions set out in the relevant terms of business and are not necessarily agreed or authorised by Thousand Hands Ltd. We have taken all reasonable precautions to ensure that no viruses are transmitted from Novara Media to any third party. Novara Media accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage resulting directly or indirectly from the use of this email or the contents. Novara Media is regulated by IMPRESS, the independent press regulator.

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