Criminalizing solidarity must have consequences.
Yesterday we testified in Milan in the defamation trial against #MaurizioBelpietro, who in 2022 labelled search and rescue NGOs “the new pirates" in the magazine, #Panaroma.
This attack did not just target NGOs, it was part of a narrative built to discredit people on the move and make deaths at sea acceptable.
We stand alongside NGOs defending a simple truth:
saving lives is a duty, not piracy and not a crime.
Discrediting those who do it is.
