Overview
- Four Guardia di Finanza officers and two coastguard members appeared in a Crotone court on Friday charged with involuntary manslaughter and negligence causing shipwreck.
- Prosecutors say a Frontex aircraft spotted the vessel about 38 km offshore, yet a Guardia di Finanza boat turned back due to bad weather and no coordinated search-and-rescue followed.
- At least 94 people, including 35 children, died in the wreck near Cutro on 26 February 2023, with about 80 survivors and others still unaccounted for.
- Rescue NGOs SOS Humanity and Mediterranea Saving Humans joined the case as civil parties, arguing the tragedy reflects policies that prioritize deterrence over saving lives, a criticism echoed by Human Rights Watch.
- Separate 2024 convictions targeted alleged smugglers with sentences of 14 to 20 years, as Italy recorded roughly 66,000 arrivals last year and the IOM reported at least 1,340 deaths on the central Mediterranean route.