Agrigento, they plundered the small boats headed to Lampedusa: a gang of pirates arrested
Maritime piracy is a crime provided for by art. 1135 of the Navigation Code
Agrigento, they plundered the small boats headed to Lampedusa: a gang of pirates arrested.
The Police of Agrigento, the Guardia di Finanza-Naval Operational Section of Lampedusa and the Maritime District Office of the Port Authority - Coast Guard of Lampedusa they carried out an intense and complex investigative activity on the island of Lampedusa, in synergy and under the directives of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Agrigento, led by the FF Prosecutor Salvatore Vella.
Together they gathered valid evidence which allowed the arrest of the captain of a Tunisian motor fishing vessel and the other 5 members of the crew, as well as the seizure of the vessel.
These are held responsible, jointly, for the crime of maritime piracy, provided for by the art. 1135 of the Navigation Code.
Maritime piracy
The investigations made it possible to ascertain that Tunisian fishermen plundered the numerous small boats on the Sfax - Lampedusa route, with mostly South-Saharan migrants on board, threatening to leave them adrift.
What was declared by the victims, consistently with previous investigations on the subject of maritime piracy, reiterates the sad vicissitudes of migrants who, on board dilapidated iron boats, in precarious conditions of stability, intercepted in international waters, are forced, under threat of being left adrift, handing over their belongings and the engines of their boats to the crews of Tunisian fishing boats.
Last July, the crime of maritime piracy, covered by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, was contested for the first time.
THE engine in exchange for help reaching the coast
The Flying Squad of Agrigento, the Naval Operational Section of the Guardia di Finanza and the soldiers of the Coast Guard of Lampedusa, carried out the arrest of a crime suspect, issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Agrigento, against the commander of a Tunisian motor fishing vessel and the three members of the crew who had demanded from the migrants, in international waters, the delivery of the engine of the boat on which they were traveling in exchange for their help in reaching the Italian coasts.
The accusations
The investigation activity was fully shared by the competent Judicial Authority which requested the validation of the arrest of a crime suspect against the six suspects, which was validated by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations of Agrigento, Stefano Zammuto, who simultaneously issued the measure of precautionary custody in prison.
The investigations are ongoing, the criminal responsibilities of the subjects subject to precautionary measures have not yet been definitively ascertained.
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