ROME: Italian prosecutors investigating a deadly shipwreck which killed 94 migrants in 2023 accused two members of the coast guard and four police officers Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors in Crotone, a city near the shipwreck off southern Italy, must now ask a judge to rule whether the six stand trial for the tragedy.
The victims, including many children, perished when their overcrowded boat sank in stormy dawn weather just off the region of Calabria.
The disaster sparked outrage amid allegations authorities did not react quickly enough to reports of an overloaded vessel in the area.
Critics of far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the government’s policy of treating migrant boats as a law enforcement issue, rather than a humanitarian one, may have fatally delayed the rescue.
European Union border agency Frontex flagged the vessel to the Italians late in the evening as the weather worsened.
The four financial police officers stand accused of failing to communicate key information to the coast guard, because they did not mention the difficulties they were having in sailing due to the difficult sea conditions, prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday.
The two members of the coast guard are accused of “not having acquired the necessary information to have a precise idea” of what the financial police were up to and of having therefore made “an erroneous assessment” of the situation.
The prosecutors said coast guard vessels, designed for rough seas, could have intervened.
The coast guard is supposed to rescue all vessels carrying migrants, as boats run by human traffickers are inevitably dangerously overcrowded and ill-equipped.
There was “obvious negligence in the application of the rules imposed by European and national laws in this type of situation,” the prosecutors said.
![]()
Italy prosecutors accuse six over 2023 migrant shipwreck
Short Url
https://arab.news/wsxah
Italy prosecutors accuse six over 2023 migrant shipwreck
- Prosecutors in Crotone, a city near the shipwreck off southern Italy, must now ask a judge to rule whether the six stand trial for the tragedy
- The disaster sparked outrage amid allegations authorities did not react quickly enough to reports of an overloaded vessel in the area
Tanzania police ban proposed rallies after poll violence
DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania’s police have banned proposed rallies next week, following a violent crackdown by security forces on election demonstrations.
Polls on October 29 erupted into days of violent protests over claims that President Samia Suluhu Hassan had rigged the polls and was behind a campaign of murders and abductions of her critics.
She was declared winner with 98 percent of the vote.
More than 1,000 people were shot dead by security forces over several days of unrest, according to the opposition and rights groups, though the government has yet to give a final toll.
Despite attempts to suppress information, anger within the east African nation has grown with some saying they will return to the streets on December 9.
In a statement in Swahili late Friday, police spokesperson David Misime said officials had seen the calls on social media but noted: “No identifiable person has so far submitted formal notification for the planned demonstrations.”
Citing police guidelines, the statement said that “given the unlawful tactics that have surfaced,” the proposed rally “no longer meets the legal requirements to be authorized.”
“Therefore, the Police Force, as of today, bans the planned demonstrations described as peaceful and indefinite,” it said.
The statement added calls for the proposed rally were being coordinated by individuals using “telephone numbers based both inside and outside Tanzania, as well as anonymous online accounts managed by persons outside the country.”
It follows a decision by Meta earlier this week to suspend the Instagram accounts of two Tanzanian activists after they posted images of the violent crackdown on election protests.
International criticism has grown, with the United States stating it would be “comprehensively reviewing” its relationship with the country following the election violence.
Polls on October 29 erupted into days of violent protests over claims that President Samia Suluhu Hassan had rigged the polls and was behind a campaign of murders and abductions of her critics.
She was declared winner with 98 percent of the vote.
More than 1,000 people were shot dead by security forces over several days of unrest, according to the opposition and rights groups, though the government has yet to give a final toll.
Despite attempts to suppress information, anger within the east African nation has grown with some saying they will return to the streets on December 9.
In a statement in Swahili late Friday, police spokesperson David Misime said officials had seen the calls on social media but noted: “No identifiable person has so far submitted formal notification for the planned demonstrations.”
Citing police guidelines, the statement said that “given the unlawful tactics that have surfaced,” the proposed rally “no longer meets the legal requirements to be authorized.”
“Therefore, the Police Force, as of today, bans the planned demonstrations described as peaceful and indefinite,” it said.
The statement added calls for the proposed rally were being coordinated by individuals using “telephone numbers based both inside and outside Tanzania, as well as anonymous online accounts managed by persons outside the country.”
It follows a decision by Meta earlier this week to suspend the Instagram accounts of two Tanzanian activists after they posted images of the violent crackdown on election protests.
International criticism has grown, with the United States stating it would be “comprehensively reviewing” its relationship with the country following the election violence.
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.