Father Mussie Zerai
An Eritrean priest whose number was widely shared by migrants in distress — was placed under surveillance after he was casually named by one of the informants. Zerai was never charged within the iuventa-case, but his calls with journalists, Vatican officials, and his lawyer were flagged as "of interest" and transcribed.
Don Zerai has fled himself from Eritrea to Italy in 1990 and thereupon, entered the priesthood, constantly advocating for and supporting refugees, especially from Eritrea, on the perilous journey at sea.
He is the founder and president of the NGO Habeshia, the “lifesaver of migrants,” and has for years offered telephone assistance, alerting authorities of boats crossing the Mediterranean to provide rescues. His commitment led to a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015.
In August 2017, Father Mussie Zerai had been charged with aiding and abetting unauthorized immigration within the larger Italian investigation against the iuventa-crew, Save the Children and Médecins sans Frontières. He has been freed from all charges in May 2022. Despite the charged were dropped, Mussie Zerai anyway endured five years of uncertainty, suspicion and ‘numerous’ attacks on his work and personality.
For two decades, one priest's mobile phone functioned as Mediterranean's emergency hotline. It was a stopgap for the absence of a proper system. Alarm Phone took his idea and built it into a structured, round-the-clock network.