Malta’s prime minister says he is ‘under investigation’ for migrant deaths
- Monitors of Mediterranean crossings said five people died and seven others went missing while their boat was in distress off Malta’s coast this week
Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela says he is under investigation for his role in the death of at least five migrants who tried to sail from Libya to Italy.
Monitors of Mediterranean crossings said five people died and seven others went missing while their boat was in distress off Malta’s coast this week.
The boat was reportedly carrying around 55 people. It eventually returned to Libya under disputed circumstances after being spotted by a fishing boat.
On Thursday, Malta’s Repubblika civil rights organisation filed two police reports alleging criminal inaction on the part of Abela and Maltese armed forces commander Jeffrey Curmi.
Its second report was filed against 11 crew members of a Maltese patrol boat who allegedly cut the cables of the migrant dinghy’s motor.
The prime minister said in a television address late Friday that he had volunteered to cooperate with the police investigation.