Tony Gauci, 48, and 37-year-old Emanuel Seychell, appeared in front of a court in Modica, presided over by Magistrate Maurizio Gurrieri, where they were charged with aiding and abetting illegal immigration
into Italy.
Italian law requires that an arrest by the police must be
confirmed by a judge. During such a hearing, the accused can defend themselves.
Gauci and Seychell told the court that they had ferried the Chinese without actually
knowing that they were not
carrying any visas or passports.
They claimed that they did not ask for any payment from the Chinese, but could not account for the E1,000 and Lm2,000 in cash the carabinieri (military police) found in the yacht allegedly used to make the trip from Malta to Pozzallo.
The carabinieri suspect that this was the money the illegal immigrants paid to make the journey on board the Adelina.
The Modica court confirmed the arrest of the two Maltese men, who were remanded in
custody at the Piano del Gesu prison in Modica.
On Friday, the illegal immigrants were spotted next to the yacht in the port area of Pozzallo by the port authorities, who
alerted the carabinieri on patrol at the time.
Catching sight of the carabinieri, one of the illegal immigrants tried to escape, but was caught immediately. The illegal immigrants and the two Maltese men were taken to the police station and the yacht was seized on a warrant issued by the Modica court.
The carabinieri discovered that the four illegal immigrants had been ferried to Pozzallo from Malta on a yacht piloted by the two Maltese men who had each been paid a considerable sum of money.
Later, speaking through an interpreter, one of the illegal immigrants confirmed having paid a considerable sum of Maltese liri for the trip to Sicily.
One of the illegal immigrants did not have a passport while the other three had passports but did not possess a visa.
The fact that the illegal immigrants entered the port of Pozzallo on board a yacht as if they were tourists seems to indicate a change of tactics by those ferrying illegal immigrants from Malta to Sicily.
They are shifting from mass landings with derelict boats to smaller a la carte landings which might be less visible to the Sicilian port authorities.