German migrant rescue ship captain who disobeyed Italy’s orders ‘in secret location’ after threats

The German captain of a rescue charity ship who provoked the anger of Italy’s interior minister by bringing 41 African migrants to an Italian island has received threats and been moved to a secret location, according to the charity she works for.

An Italian judge on Tuesday ordered Carola Rackete, 31, to be released from house arrest where she had been held since Saturday, when she disobeyed Italian military orders and entered the port of Lampedusa, Reuters reports.

Rackete called the decision by Judge Alessandra Vella “a great victory of solidarity towards all migrants, against the criminalization of those who want to help them.”

She had faced up to 10 years in prison on possible charges of endangering the lives of four policemen for hitting a patrol boat at the quay as she brought migrants to land in the Sea-Watch rescue vessel.