FREE #ELHIBLU3

On 28 March 2019, the Merchant Vessel ElHiblu1 arrived in Malta. In late March 2019, 108 people were rescued from a rubber boat in distress. The boat had departed Libyan shores trying to escape to Europe. Co-ordinated by an airplane of the EUNAVFOR Med operation, the people in distress were found and rescued by the merchant vessel ElHiblu1. After the rescue operation, the captain of the ElHiblu1 reassured the rescued that they would be brought to a port of safety in Europe. Yet, following the order of European authorities, the crew tried to return them to the inhumane conditions in Libya from which they had just escaped. When the rescued passengers realised they were being returned to Libya, they began to protest the attempted push-back. The ship re-directed its course and steered north towards Malta. Upon arrival, three teenagers were arrested and accused of a multiplicity of crimes, including acts of terrorism. The three teenagers, who we collectively refer to as the ElHiblu3, were 15,16 and 19 years old when they reached the safe port in Malta and were immediately detained. It took seven months to bail them out in November 2019. Since then, they remain on parole in Malta. They have to register every day at the police station and attend a monthly hearing during which the prosecution seeks to establish the potential charges to be brought forward. If found guilty by a jury in Malta, they could face a severe prison sentence. Until recently, none of the people rescued by the tanker were heard by the court. Just now, one person was called-in to testify. While the police and the crew of the ship were heard promptly after the ship arrived, it remains intransparent why it took the prosecution two years to invite a rescued person that had escaped torture, rape and slavery in Libya to testify. To us it is clear, that the Maltese state is trying to make an example of the three accused in order to deter others from similarly resisting push-backs to Libya. On board the merchant vessel, the ElHiblu3 had acted as translators when the rescued started to collectively protest their push-back to Libya. Their imprisonment and prosecution constitutes a deep injustice. Instead of being prosecuted, the ElHiblu3 should be celebrated for their actions in preventing the return of 108 precarious lives to Libya. We cannot condemn Frontex for facilitating illegal push-backs and then blame the ones that stop them from happening.
Resisting illegal push-backs to Libya is not a crime. Free the ElHiblu 3 – dismiss the trial immediately!

After Abdalla, Amara and Kaders release from detention in November 2019 we sat together for a coffee in Hamrun. Getting to know each other, we decided to launch a campaign to advocate for justice and their freedom -> to inform the public about the situation and provide updates. Almost six years in we still work intensively together to demand justice and the trial finally to be dismissed. Join us in advocating for Freedom for the El Hiblu 3. Distribute materials, talk about the case, donate to the campaign or reach our for direct support. -- On 28 March 2019 the Merchant Vessel ElHiblu1 arrived in Malta. Upon arrival, three teenagers were arrested and accused of a multiplicity of crimes, including acts of terrorism. From the beginning, human rights activists, networks and NGOs have been working on getting attention to the case. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani appealed to the Maltese authorities to reconsider the charges against the three teenagers already in 2019. In March 2020 we’ve launched our documentation as well as political and legal context of the case on the campaign-website. Simultaneously Amnesty International has launched a write4rights-campaign that received attention world-wide. We launched a first collaborative statement on the El Hiblu 3 case. In 2021 we mobilized many networks and public actors to speak up for the El Hiblu 3. Find a variety of voices in our social media channels under @elhiblu3 and selected statements here:

• A letter of 26 MEPs addressed to the Attorney General of Malta, demanding a termination of the proceedings
• A statement by the European Democratic Lawyers signed by 21 international legal associations
• A press release from the Migrants Commission, JRS Malta and the Justice and Peace Commission
• Our statement, requesting the immediate termination of prosecuting the #ElHiblu3 signed by 29 Human Rights Groups
• A Freedom Commisssion for the El Hiblu 3 was founded in October 2021.

In 2022 we organised a Freedom Conference in Valletta, Malta, inviting international human rights defenders to exchange on strategies and challenges around the El Hiblu 3 case but also broader lawfare against migration. In addition, a book was produces with editorial support from local academics 'C. Mainwaring' and 'D. Debono' featuring relevant voices around the El Hiblu 3 case, such as the lawyers' and campaign coordinators perspectives. In November 2023 the El Hiblu 3 pre-trial hearings have come to a close. The Attorney General issued a harsh and ill-thought Bill of Indictment against the three young men. At this stage the Attorney can still drop the charges. We thus reiterate our demand that all charges be dropped and the trial be dismissed immediately – once and for all! Sign the petition here!
^{You can join the mobilization through: → publishing social media selfies holding a solidarity sign with “Free El Hiblu 3” / “Drop the charges” → alerting your network → distributing the hashtag: Free #ElHiblu3 → sharing and endorsing our social media channels instagram: elhiblu3 / → twitter: @ElHiblu3 → writing statements yourself, organise actions We endorse all responsible actors, public personas and European decision makers to express their concern about proceeding with the unfair trial and demand the Maltese authorities to drop the accusations immediately.}