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Celebrity appeal raises €500,000 for Sea-Watch captain
[DW] A crowdfunding effort for detained sea captain Carola Rackete ‐ backed by two of Germany's top television celebrities ‐ raised €500,000 ($569,000) within hours of its launch.German-born Rackete was arrested on Saturday after ramming her vessel past a police boat that was blocking its entry to the harbor on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. She was held on the charge of breaking maritime law, with Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini declaring the maneuver to have been "an act of war." The funding campaign, fronted by television hosts Jan Böhmermann and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, was launched late on Saturday. It had already passed its half-a-million euro milestone by mid-afternoon Sunday. The German humanitarian group Sea-Watch had rescued 53 people from an unseaworthy boat that was launched from Libya almost three weeks ago. In recent days, 13 people were taken off the boat and allowed into Italia for medical reasons. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... 40 people remained on board when Sea-Watch 3 docked without permission in Lampedusa on Saturday. Before docking, the vessel rammed an Italian border police motor boat that was in its path. Salvini on Saturday said Rackete's actions had risked the lives of the border police, and made it clear Italia was dealing with "criminals." The captain of the police boat said his vessel would have been destroyed if he hadn't taken evasive action. Police have taken possession of the Sea-Watch 3 rescue ship for the time being. Posted by: trailing wife 2019-07-01 |
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