The group of trial observers

ECCHR explains why they are supporting the defendants as observers:

According to Italian criminal procedure, preliminary hearings are closed to the public. This is to protect the presumption of innocence, privacy, and safety of the defendants. In this case, however, legal documents were leaked to the Italian press during the five-year preliminary investigation, including the full names of Iuventa crew members. This resulted in a heavy media smear campaign, surveillance by Italian authorities, as well as threats by far-right movements against those named in the documents. Given these existing threats to the presumption of innocence already in the public domain, and in light of the case’s significant implications for human rights defense at sea and civil society action more broadly, ECCHR and its partner organizations submitted applications to the judge in May 2022 requesting permission to conduct independent observation of the hearings on-site. The requests emphasized the fact that independent documentation of the judicial process is a crucial resource for informed public debate.