MALTA must drop all charges against three young men who prevented the illegal return of more than 100 refugees to Libya last year by commandeering their rescuers’ ship, campaigners demanded today.  

On March 26, 2019, the merchant vessel El Hiblu 1 rescued 108 refugees from a rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean, but European maritime authorities ordered the ship’s crew to return them to Libya. 

The refugees protested against this and three — teenagers aged 15, 16 and 19 at the time — took control of the ship and steered it to Malta, where they were arrested and charged with terrorism.