Criminal proceedings against members of the crew of the NGOs Jugend Rettet, Save the Children, and Doctors Without Borders have ended, after 7 years, with the ruling that there is no place to prosecute. The judge who issued the sentence with the formula because the fact does not exist is Samuel Corso.
The refusal to proceed had been requested by the Trapani Public Prosecutor's Office after an investigation costing around 3 million euros. "This decision, which comes at the end of a legal case that lasted almost seven years, recognizes the truth about our work and our humanitarian commitment to saving lives at sea," said Daniela Fatarella, General Director of Save the Children. The Ministry of the Interior was a civil party in the proceedings and deferred to the judge's decision. The prosecutors had also ordered the seizure of the Iuventa vessel, one of the three humanitarian organizations involved. The ship has meanwhile suffered enormous damage and is unusable. "We are extremely proud of all of this. We are very pleased with the outcome of the preliminary hearing and thank all our colleagues," said Fatarella.