Italian Government Angered by Legal Probe Into Migrant Shipwreck
Prosecutors in the Italian city of Crotone said on Tuesday they have informed six police and coastguard officers that they may face trial over alleged failures to avoid amigrant shipwreck that killed at least 94 people.
The move was denounced by Italy's right-wing government who defended the two coastguards and four police officers.
"Not only do they risk their lives every day to save others, but they even run the risk of being arrested in the event of a disaster," said Matteo Salvini, leader of the hard-right League party and deputy prime minister in the government led by Giorgia Meloni.
Prosecutors said in a statement that the officers could be charged with multiple manslaughter and negligence that may have contributed to the shipwreck in February last year near the town of Cutro, close to Crotone in the southern Calabria region.
The migrant accident, one of the deadliest in Italy's history, involved a wooden sailboat that set out from Turkey and smashed apart on rocks within sight of a beach.
"I am certain that ... operators will prove that they have nothing to do with any possible responsibility," Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in a statement, adding officers devote the "utmost commitment" to saving lives and combating human traffickers.
The four police officers involved are part of the Guardia di Finanza body.
The prosecutors' statement said two of the smugglers had already been convicted, and three are on trial. A sixth trafficker was killed in the shipwreck.
Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, a member of Salvini's League whose office is responsible for the Guardia di Finanza, also said he was convinced all the involved forces had acted to defend the public good.
Under Italian law, prosecutors have to ask a judge whether to call a formal trial for the suspects after wrapping up their probe.
(Reuters - Reporting by Angelo Amante, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Keith Weir)