This archive report was first published on 30 June 2019.
On June 30, 2019, Sea-Watch captain Carola Rackete, 31, was placed under house arrest after forcing her way past an Italian military vessel to bring migrants to shore.
According to Rackete, her goal was to bring exhausted and desperate people to safety, and she was scared that migrants would throw themselves into the sea and drown because many did not know how to swim.
"The situation was desperate," she said. "My goal was only to bring exhausted and desperate people to shore. I was scared."
Italian authorities accused Rackete of putting a military speedboat and the safety of its occupants at risk in the incident on Saturday, June 29, 2019.
Comedian Jan Boehmermann, who launched a fund-raising appeal for Rackete's legal defence, said: "We are convinced that someone who saves lives is not a criminal. Anyone who thinks otherwise is simply wrong."
Boehmermann and show host Klaas Heufer-Umlauf raised more than 500,000 euros ($568,000) by midday Sunday, June 30, 2019.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticised Italian authorities, saying that as Italy is a founding member of the European Union, "we should expect a country like Italy to deal with such a case differently."
