The rescue charity Sea-Watch has warned it will hold the Maltese government responsible for “deliberately” and arbitrarily detaining the ship Sea-Watch 3 for over two months, without legal justification. The ship has been prevented from departing from Malta ever since Italy’s home affairs minister Matteo Salvini, a far-right firebrand, warned he would prevent private rescue ships from bringing rescued migrants to Italy. Malta’s move has been widely interpreted to be a political act intended to assuage brittle relations between the two countries. “Such political arguments do not mirror the alleged registration issue and again, clearly show the scandalous political nature of the ship’s detention,” Sea-Watch said. The Captain of the migrant rescue vessel was charged earlier this year with vessel licencing irregularities.

Source: Libya Today September 11, 2018 07:52 UTC