Overview
- The Paris court of appeal’s March 18 ruling to open an inquiry will now trigger the assignment of an investigating judge, judicial sources said Tuesday.
- A complaint by the Ligue des droits de l’Homme and Utopia 56 accuses Leggeri of complicity in crimes against humanity and torture for encouraging operations with Libyan and Greek authorities that blocked migrants from reaching the EU.
- NGOs say Frontex shifted from ships to planes to spot boats sooner so Libyan coastguards, not Italian or Maltese rescuers, would carry out the interceptions.
- France’s anti-terror prosecutor had declined the case in 2024, saying the alleged pushbacks did not meet crimes-against-humanity or torture definitions, but the appeal chamber adopted a different view.
- Leggeri has not commented, while RN leaders denounce the move as political harassment, and rights groups cite a human toll of about 34,000 deaths in the Mediterranean since 2014, according to the IOM.