From Sea to Prison: Six-Monthly Update, 2025
1. The Data
In April, the police published their annual data, including the statement that, in 2024, “restrictive measures were taken against 240 smugglers (trafficanti) and facilitators of illegal immigration and human trafficking, as well as against boat drivers (scafisti)”. In the same report, the police claim to have made 160 arrests under Article 12 of the Italian Immigration Act (facilitation of irregular entry and stay) on the Slovenian border, and 72 arrests of “boat drivers” at disembarkation. As always, the use of these categories—some legal, others journalistic—creates confusion rather than transparency. For example, it blurs the important distinction between trafficking and smuggling, which have very different definitions, both politically and legally.
The number of arrests reported by the police, of 72 “boat drivers” , is significantly lower than the figure we calculated based on our monitoring of news reports and trials throughout 2024, which instead recorded 106 people arrested on arrival. To offer a brief historical summary: in 2021, we counted 171 arrests, while the police claimed to have arrested “225 people, including smugglers, organizers, and other facilitators.” In 2022, we counted 264 arrests, a number that was largely confirmed by the police; in 2023, we counted 177 arrests, while the police reported that approximately 200 “boat drivers” were arrested.
Despite the inconsistencies between their figures and our own, the police data nonetheless indicates that the absolute number of arrests of “boat drivers” after disembarkations is lower than in previous years – even if, in relative terms (i.e. in proportion to the number of people arriving) the figure remains unchanged. The numbers also show that Article 12 of the Immigration Act is being applied in different contexts with respect to the past. For example, the 160 people arrested at the Slovenian border certainly constitutes a new trend that warrants closer scrutiny—an investigation that the association Migreurop is currently carrying out, with results expected in the coming months.
Moreover, it hardly seems credible that, aside from arrests after disembarkations (72 people) or on the Slovenian border (160 people) only 8 people were charged with facilitating irregular immigration in other contexts (which is the number we arrive at by subtracting 72 and 160 from the declared total of 240 arrests). Given the various police operations last year in areas far from both land and sea borders (e.g. 9 arrests in Siena, 10 in Milan, 28 in Terni), the police data seems to be not only unreliable but actually obscures the extent of the ongoing criminalization.
2. From Prison in Italy to Prison in Egypt
In recent months, we followed the cases of several Egyptian citizens who, upon release from prison, were taken directly to detention and deportation centers (CPRs). Since autumn 2024, we have unfortunately also witnessed the deportation of three Egyptian men from the Sicilian detention centers in Trapani and Caltanissetta. Through continued contact with them after their return to Egypt, we learnt about a deeply troubling situation: people previously imprisoned in Italy as boat drivers are being re-arrested upon arrival in Egypt on charges of people smuggling. Two of the men whose cases we followed were deported just a few days apart, and thereby indicted in the same trial in Egypt—even though they had arrived in Italy at very different times and under very different circumstances.
Thanks to the operational support of the organization Refugees Platform in Egypt, which intervened to provide legal defense for these individuals, they were acquitted at the end of May along with a further co-defendant, and the third person also eventually informed us of their release. We later learned, however, that two of the three defendants were immediately re-arrested on the same charges, and are currently in pre-trial detention. Furthermore, we are concerned that this practice may be more systemic, as several Italian lawyers have reported that other clients of theirs were also re-detained in Egypt after being deported.
Indeed, the Egyptian investigative news site Mada Masr has revealed how the system of “rotation” — i.e. the repeated arrest of the same individual — has evolved from a method used to target political activists into a tool now employed against ‘smugglers’. As well as allowing police officers to earn performance bonuses, the investigation notes, this practice mostly helps to inflate official statistics on the ‘fight’ against migration. The situation is so concerning that even the Egyptian Public Prosecutor has launched an investigation. This raises the question of whether the same dynamic is also taking place on a transnational level — with people deported from Italy being re-arrested and accused of the same crimes in Egypt, once again as a means of inflating official figures, especially following the €7.4 billion bilateral agreement signed with the EU last year.
At the moment, we are following the cases of two Egyptian citizens similarly detained in the detention centers in Trapani and Bari (Apulia). Both were convicted under Article 12 of the Immigration Act and are now at risk of a second imprisonment if deported. Among them is Mahammad Al Jezar Ezet, who arrived aboard the Diciotti ship in 2018, when the then Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, blocked the passengers’ disembarkation for three weeks. Mahammad, who was sentenced to seven years in prison, is now subject to administrative detention as an asylum seeker on the grounds of an alleged ‘social dangerousness’—despite facing the risk of being charged and detained a third time upon return to Egypt.
3. The Ferragosto Massacre of 2015
Almost ten years have passed since eight young men were arrested and sentenced to the incredible penalties of 30 and 20 years in prison for the Ferragosto 2015 massacre, but their struggle for justice and freedom continues—albeit while they face new, appalling obstacles. After the Court of Cassation upheld the decision by the Court of Appeal of Messina to reject the request for a retrial presented by Tarek Jomaa Laamami in October 2024, last May it issued a similar ruling in the case of Mohammed Assayd, his co-defendant, who had been sentenced to 20 years through a fast-track trial. The court deemed that the irregularities in the original trial and the new witness statements gathered by the defense lawyers were not sufficient to re-open the case. Unfortunately, on June 12, 2025, the Cassation also rejected a similar request filed on behalf of Alaa Faraj, which had been supported by a media campaign for his release— and whose book will soon be published by Sellerio. It seems that, even when faced with a deeply flawed trial, which has cost eight people their youth in prison, the Italian justice system prefers to turn a blind eye.
Despite yet another act of injustice against these young men—three of whom were professional footballers in Libya and had tried to come to Europe in pursuit of their dreams—they are continuing to fight for their freedom, hoping that the truth about their case will finally come to light. Just last week, some of their family members in Libya managed to obtain visas to visit them in prison in Italy, and after ten long years they finally embraced each other. But the tenderness of this moment cannot erase our anger and outrage at the injustices they are being made to endure. We continue to express our deepest solidarity with their struggle and reaffirm our indignation in the face of these latest rulings. Freedom and justice for Tarek, Alaa, and Mohamed! Free them all!
4. Article 12-bis: the first guilty verdicts have arrived
The first sentences confirming the new criminal offense under “article 12-bis” have been issued. The article was introduced with the ‘Cutro decree’ in March 2023, and punishes “death or injury as a consequence of crimes related to illegal immigration”, carrying a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and a minimum of 15 years. That means that, even with the sentencing benefits of a shortened trial, someone accused of this crime can easily be sentenced to 10 years in prison.
This was how a Sudanese man was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the court of Agrigento in December 2024. Initially accused of the ‘simple’ form of article 12, the new crime of 12-bis was brought forward only in the final hearing. The sentence was substantially confirmed in the appeal court last June, with a minimal reduction to 11 years and 8 months. The sentenced man had arrived in Lampedusa at the end of 2023, and was arrested along with three other people from Nigeria, Gambia and Ghana. The other three – who are also being supported by Maldusa – have chosen a full trial, which has only just started. The next hearing will be on September 18th in Agrigento.
The trial of Ahmed, the Egyptian minor who we have written about in the past, also continues. Ahmed was arrested following the landing of the NGO ship Nadir in June last year. In the meantime, his adult co-defendant has been sentenced to 17 years and 6 months in prison, after a shortened trial, again in Agrigento. In the same week, the public prosecutor requested 16 years imprisonment for another Egyptian man who arrived at Lampedusa a year ago. The sentence will be issued in September.
These first guilty verdicts under article 12-bis represent a defeat for the protection of the rights of criminalized persons. In our previous reports we wrote about howthe accusation didn’t hold up in the very first 12-bis trials: in the very first trial, against two young men from Sierra Leone, the judge in Reggio Calabria reformulated the accusation to the ‘simple form’ of article 12, which was confirmed by the appeal court in May. We are happy to say that a few weeks following this decisio, ‘M’s was given parole and is finally free. The sentence from the Court in Locri , on the other hand, where 7 people were accused of article 12-bis, five of whom were found innocent, is now definitive. The two people who were sentenced for the ‘simple’ form of article 12 have now presented appeals.
5. Cutro: the parallel trials
Over the past couple of years we have often provided updates on the criminalization of the five people on the move accused of being captains of the boat that capsized at Cutro in February 2023. The appeals against the sentencing of Sami Fuat, Hasab Hussain and Khalid Arslan are being presented; in the meantime, in March the Appeal court confirmed the sentencing to 20 years in prison of Abdessalem Mohammed, while in June the Cassation Court definitively confirmed the same sentence for Gun Ufuk.
In light of the incredibly harsh sentences issued still now, we think it is important to note the beginning of a separate trial connected to the same facts. On 3 March 2025, the trial began in Crotone to ascertain the institutional responsibilities for the massacre. The defendants are four customs police and two coast guard officers, all accused of multiple counts of manslaughter and shipwreck for serious negligence during a rescue operation. As such, it is a fundamental case in terms of sea rescue. The preliminary hearings held until now mainly concentrated on the presentation of civil claims to damages.
Following the hearing on 28 May, the judge in Crotone decided to exclude many of the requests for civil damages, including nearly all of the civil society organizations, with the exception of the NGO sea rescue missions. The only physical persons excluded, however, were Hasab Hussain and Khalid Arslan, already sentenced for Article 12 and who, like the other people on board, experienced the shipwreck. The rejection of their request for damages, prompted by the public prosecution, was motivated only by their having been convicted for the same facts ascribed to the accused – or anyway for a related offense – and therefore should be seen as co-responsible.
We are in agreement with their lawyer, who underlined that both were found not guilty of the crime of shipwreck by negligence, and that in any case, as passengers of the ship, they had the right to be saved like anyone else. Fortunately Italian and international law makes no distinction between the innocent and the guilty in the context of rescue at sea: when a ship is in danger, rescue is an obligation, and this is not up for debate.
Last week the judge decided that the case will go to trial, with the first full hearing set for January. While we welcome the news, we also know that any possible sentencing of the customs police and coast guard officers in this trial would nevertheless still advance an incomplete narrative, as it would still not acknowledge the responsibility of the Italian government and its policies in producing death at the border, in this case just off the Italian coasts; instead it risks offering up to the courts and public opinion a few individuals who can be ‘sacrificed’.
6. Escaped from Iran, Persecuted in Italy
June 16th saw the final hearing in the trial of Marjan Jamali and Amir Babai, two Iranian citizens who arrived in Italy in October 2023, fleeing the repressive regime. Fortunately, Marjan – who had already been given house arrest last year – was found not guilty and acquitted by the court, a great relief for her, her young son, and the whole community that has mobilized in solidarity. Amir Babai, however, was sentenced to 6 years and 1 month in prison. Both Amir and Marjan have always claimed their innocence, and Marjan even provided an important account in court that should have exonerated her co-defendant. A few days following the sentencing, news began to arrive that Amir had attempted suicide. Fortunately the attempt was not successful, but his actions demonstrate his despair in the face of such a cruel and senseless sentence.
Marjan’s freedom was demanded by a large network of NGOs and activists, locally and nationally, and we will continue alongside them to campaign for Amir’s own freedom. His sentencing is even more cruel given that it comes at a time when Italy portrays the Iranian government as an enemy of the people to justify its own belligerent intentions – while simultaneously imprisoning Amir for having tried to flee.
Among those mobilizing, we would like to mention the network Oltre i Confini: Scafiste Tutte, with whom we’ve been in dialogue over the past few months. This is a group of Calabrian activists who originally organized around the Free Maysoon Majidi campaign, and who have now reassembled to carry out local political actions and debate against the systematic criminalization of people on the move occurring in Calabria.
‘From sea to prison’
From Sea to Prison is a militant project by Arci Porco Rosso and borderline-europe which, since 2021, has been monitoring the criminalization of boat drivers in Italy and offering socio-legal support to those criminalized. We thank Guerilla, FGHR, Sea-Watch, Safe Passage, and United4Rescue, who have chosen to support this cause and our activism.
