Malta Libya: Free the El Hiblu 3 – dismiss the trial immediately!

Appeal to stop the criminalisation of three young migrants in Malta: In late March 2019, a rubber boat with 108 people on board, was escaping the Libyan coast and trying to reach Europe. Co-ordinated by an airplane of the Eunavfor Med operation, the people in distress were found and rescued by the merchant vessel El Hiblu 1. When the rescued passengers realised they were being returned to Libya, they began to protest. In Malta, three of the 108 rescued passengers – 15, 16, and 19 year-old teenagers – were arrested as the ring leaders of the protest and accused of several crimes, including terrorism.