Palermo / Rome / Berlin – Within a few days, two landmark rulings have confirmed the course of civilian sea rescue and put the far-right Italian government in its place. The government is currently planning to revive its 2018 policy of closed ports. It was this very policy that Carola Rackete rebelled against in 2019 and for which Italy has just been ordered to pay a substantial amount in damages.
Last week, the civil court in Palermo ordered the Italian government to pay Sea-Watch €76,000 in damages. The background to this was the illegal refusal of the prefecture of Agrigento in 2019 to lift a six-month seizure of the Sea-Watch 3.
The seizure took place in the context of the so-called security decrees of the then Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. The case gained international attention in particular after Sea-Watch captain Carola Rackete entered the port of Lampedusa in June 2019 with 53 rescued people. Rackete was briefly arrested, but several courts confirmed the legality of her disobedience in the following years.
Salvini is now Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport in Giorgia Meloni’s government. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who was already involved in the security decrees in 2018, is currently preparing new measures, a so-called “naval blockade,” which would allow for far-reaching entry bans for rescue ships.
According to the drafts known so far, Italian authorities could in future deny ships with rescued people on board entry into Italian territorial waters for up to six months. In addition, heavy fines and possible confiscation are envisaged for non-cooperation.
“We thank Matteo and Matteo and are already considering how we can use the financial injection from the Ministry of the Interior as effectively as possible against the current and future policies of the two,” says Bana Mahmood, press spokesperson for Sea-Watch. “We hope that this ruling will also serve as a lesson to the current government. What failed in 2019 will also fail in 2026 – Italy’s functioning, democratic justice system will see to that.”
Yesterday, Wednesday, the civil court in Catania accordingly lifted the official ban on the Sea-Watch 5 rescue ship leaving port. The ship had been detained by the regional representative of the Italian Ministry of the Interior after rescuing 18 people in international waters off the Libyan coast. The crew of the rescue ship had refused to inform Libyan militias about their ongoing rescue operation.
Sea-Watch, together with 12 other sea rescue organizations, had joined forces in early November 2025 to form the Justice Fleet alliance and announced that it would cease operational communication with the so-called Libyan coast guard, which has been proven to commit serious abuses and illegal interceptions against those seeking protection.
