Captain Stefan Schmidt, first officer Vladimir Daschkewitschwere, and former Cap Anamur President Elias Bierdel were accused of aiding illegal immigration and faced four years in prison.

All three were acquitted Wednesday by an Italian court.

The case, which has received extensive media coverage, highlighted the clashing interests of human rights organizations and those who would like to see harsher penalties for illegal immigration.

Delivering relief supplies

In June 2004, the "Cap Anamur II" was en route to Iraq to deliver relief supplies when the crew discovered a sinking ship between Libya and the island of Lampedusa south of Sicily. The Cap Anamur crew rescued 37 Africans from their crowded boat before it sank.

"It’s a fact that if they had stayed on this boat any longer all of them would have died," Cap Anamur manager Bernd Goeken told Detusche Welle.

After the refugees were rescued, the boat was refused permission to dock in Italy. The boat, its captain, and the 37 Africans waited in the harbor for three weeks.

The immigrants on board were taken into custody pending deportation. Bierdel and Schmidt were arrested on suspicion of smuggling, but later set free.

Boat has been sold

The ship that was used for the rescue was seized by the Italian authorities as evidence, Goeken said. The organization negotiated its release in exchange for 2 million euros, which was supposed to be returned if Schmidt and Bierdl were found not guilty.

Cap Anamur subsequently sold the boat and has been focusing its attention on other aid operations, Goeken said in a phone interview.

"We will always continue to rescue people," he said. "Today we are in 11 different countries, running hospitals in Congo, and childrens clinics in Sierra Leone."

Cap Anamur is affiliated with the German Emergency Doctor service, and was originally begun in 1979 to rescue the boat people fleeing Vietnam in makeshift rafts.

Author: Sarah Harman
Editor: Trinity Hartman