Ukrainian Sailors Sentenced to Deportation

An Italian court found eleven Ukrainian sailors guilty of smuggling 302 illegal emigrants into the territory of Italy. On March 11, the authorities of the Italian city of Reggio di Calabria detained the Ukrainian ship Mech and accused its crew of the illegal transport of migrants, including Kurds and Afghans. Preliminary investigation has not yet clarified if the migrants were transported in collusion with the crew or against its will. For this reason the Italian judges decided to take into custody the captain and his first mate in view of serious evidence of their guilt. Other crew members were sentenced to deportation, and this was immediately carried out. On March 21, the nine Ukrainian sailors arrived in Kyiv on an International Ukrainian Airlines flight, Interfax-Ukraine reports.