Sea-Watch 3 skipper Carola Rackete, who risks jail time for forcing her way into Italy's Lampedusa port with 40 rescued migrants, has defended her act of "disobedience", saying she was compelled to avert a human tragedy. "It wasn't an act of violence, but only one of disobedience," Rackete told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published Sunday as funds poured in for her legal battles. The 31-year-old German captain is accused of putting a military speedboat and the safety of its occupants at risk in the incident on Saturday. No one was hurt.
"The situation was desperate," she said. "My goal was only to bring exhausted and desperate people to shore. "My intention was not to put anyone in danger. I already apologised, and I reiterate my apology," she told Corriere. Her father Ekkehart Rackete told newspaper group RND he expected her to "be freed under conditions or bail until the beginning of the trial." After speaking by phone late Saturday, Rackete described his daughter as "jolly and in good spirits.
The migrants were allowed to disembark at Lampedusa and taken to a reception centre as they prepared to travel to either France, where the interior ministry said it would take in 10, or to Germany, Finland, Luxembourg or Portugal. The Italian coast guard then anchored the rescue ship just off the coast. Meanwhile, Italian police and coast guard rescued 55 other migrants on Sunday, including four infants and three pregnant women in the same area, the Spanish group Proactiva Open Arms and Italian media said. Proactiva Open Arms said it had identified a fishing boat that had left Libya with 40 more migrants, while Italian media said later there were 55 people on board.
Rackete was placed under house arrest and is expected to appear before a judge early this week in the southern town of Agrigente to face charges of abetting illegal immigration and forcing her way past a military vessel that tried to block the Sea-Watch. The latter crime is punishable by three to 10 years in jail. Her arrest sparked a fund-raising appeal by two prominent German TV stars, who had raised more than 500,000 euros ($568,000) by Sunday afternoon.
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