A CIVIL court in Italy has confirmed that the detention of a refugee rescue ship earlier this year was unlawful.

In March, the crew of the activist-run Humanity 1 rescue ship saved the lives of 77 people in international waters.

During that operation, four Libyan coastguard officers, some armed, arrived in a patrol ship — provided by the European Union and the Italian government.

They fired into the sea, causing panic and leading to at least one person drowning.

After disembarking the survivors in Crotone, southern Italy, on March 4, the Italian authorities detained the ship because the crew had refused to co-operate with the Libyans.

The ship’s operators, SOS Humanity, took fast-track legal action against the detention and, on March 18, a civil judge in Crotone ruled that the detention was unlawful and freed the Humanity 1.  

On Wednesday, the judge issued a final judgement in the case, confirming the earlier ruling.

“The Crotone decision finally corrects the debate,” SOS Humanity lawyer Cristina Laura Cecchini said.

“For years, we have seen a continuous criminalisation of the activities of non-governmental search-and-rescue organisations and a profound manipulation of the facts.

“Instead, the judgement based on the events of March confirms that the Libyan authorities are not carrying out search-and-rescue operations.

“They are violating the rights of refugees on a daily basis, not least because they are not taking people to a place of safety, as required by international law, but to Libya.”

“Every day, the Italian government criminalises those who save lives at sea and contributes to illegal refoulement [pushbacks] through its co-ordination.

“We hope that the judgement will help to put an end to this manipulation and illegitimate forms of co-operation, as practised by Italy with Libya and, more recently, with Tunisia.”