Overview

• Seven members of Mediterranea Saving Humans and its operator Idra Social Shipping were charged with facilitating clandestine immigration and profiting from a 2020 rescue, including founder Luca Casarini and commander Pietro Marrone.
• In September 2020 the Mare Jonio took on 27 migrants from the Danish cargo vessel Etienne Maersk and later landed them at Pozzallo, Sicily.
• Prosecutors cite a €125,000 donation by Maersk Tankers two months after the operation as evidence of unlawful profit from migrant assistance.
• Defense attorney Serena Romano plans to call Maersk executives and the rescued migrants to dispute any economic agreement and challenge the legality of key wiretap evidence.
• Legal experts warn that the outcome could redefine protections for NGO search and rescue missions and shape the EU’s solidarity exception to immigration laws.