LibyaPolitics

Families of Italian fishermen detained in Libya protest outside Italy’s Parliament

The detention of Italian fishermen in Libya constitutes a wave of political moves, amid calls from the detainees’ families to speed up government action to release them, while the opposition parties are trying to mobilize the public to exploit the situation politically.

The case of the arrest of 18 fishermen from Italy in the Libyan territories last September is clouded in the dealings of the Italian authorities, while no official discussion has been made with any party in Libya about their fate, which prompted their families to organize a protest stand in front of the Italian Parliament to demand their release.

The leader of the right-wing League party, Matteo Salvini, attended the protests, reflecting the state of political employment of the crisis. On the other hand, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio accused the authorities in eastern Libya of committing “unacceptable” behavior by arresting fishermen while they were fishing in the southern Mediterranean.

On the first of last September, a Libyan naval patrol detained two fishing boats from Sicily and transported their crew members to Benghazi and charged them with working in Libyan territorial waters, which is a matter of controversy with Italy.

Relatives of the fishermen, including Italians and Tunisians, set up a tent outside the parliament headquarters to attract attention to their case amid reports that their release is linked to the extradition of four Libyan people convicted of human trafficking who are languishing in Italian prisons.

“The detention of people who have violated an area that a party considered its own is unacceptable, and it would be unacceptable if someone informs us that he will release the Italians if we release his citizens,” the Italian foreign minister said in a hearing before Parliament.

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