On the night of Wednesday, August 29, 2018, six Tunisian
fishermen were arrested in Italy. Earlier that day, they had set off from their
hometown of Zarzis, the last important Tunisian port before Libya, to cast
their nets in the open sea between North Africa and Sicily. The fishermen then
sighted a small vessel whose engine had broken, and that had started taking in
water. After giving the fourteen passengers water, milk and bread – which the
fishermen carry in abundance, knowing they might encounter refugee boats in
distress – they called the Italian coastguard, who told them they’d be coming
soon.
After hours of waiting, though, the men decided to tow the
smaller boat in the direction of Lampedusa – Italy’s southernmost island – to
help Italian authorities in their rescue operations. At around 24 miles from
Lampedusa, the Guardia di Finanza (customs police) took the fourteen people on
board, and then proceeded to violently arrest the six fishermen. According to
the precautionary custody order issued by the judge in Agrigento (Sicily), the
men stand accused of smuggling, a crime that could get them up to fifteen years
of jail if the case goes to trial. The fishermen have since been held in
Agrigento prison, and their boat has been seized.