The Asso Ventotto Case
For the first time, an Italian court convicted the captain of a merchant vessel for returning rescued people to Libya. The defence — that he was simply following orders — did not hold.
On 30 July 2018, the captain of the Italian merchant vessel Asso Ventotto — operated by Augusta Offshore, based in Naples — rescued 101 people in distress in international waters and then transferred them to Tripoli, Libya. The case became the first in Italian legal history in which the captain of a private merchant vessel was criminally convicted for returning rescued people to Libya.
Two factors made the prosecution possible. The operations were observed, recorded and reported on by Italian and European press, prompting a strong reaction from NGOs and international organisations. And because the Asso Ventotto is an Italian-flagged vessel based in Naples, the former mayor of Naples, Luigi De Magistris, together with civil society representatives, was able to file a complaint with the Naples prosecutor's office — from which the criminal proceedings followed.
The Naples Criminal Court convicted the captain on 13 October 2021 of abandonment of minors and vulnerable persons (Art. 591 Italian Criminal Code) and arbitrary disembarkation and abandonment (Art. 1155 Italian Naval Code). The captain appealed, arguing that he had fulfilled his international obligations under SOLAS and SAR conventions by handing the rescued people to Libyan authorities — the only authority competent within the Libyan SAR zone — and that he was unaware of any risk to their safety upon return to Libya.
The Naples Court of Appeals upheld the conviction on 10 November 2022, establishing several fundamental principles: that a shipmaster is obliged to identify those on board, assess the vulnerable conditions of women and children, consider whether people may need international protection, and — by virtue of his "position of guarantee" — bring them to a place of safety. Libya does not constitute a place of safety.
The case is significant not only legally but politically: the captain's defence — that he was merely following the coordination instructions of the Libyan SAR zone — is the same logic used to justify the entire system of EU-financed proxy pushbacks. The court rejected it.
Sources
CivilMRCC / Echoes #6, Giulia Crescini, May 2023: "The Asso Ventotto Case" — civilmrcc.eu/the-asso-ventotto-case/
Naples Criminal Court ruling, 13 October 2021
Naples Court of Appeals ruling, 10 November 2022