Sicilian prosecutors wiretapped journalists covering refugee crisis

Conversations recorded ahead of cases in which rescuers from charities charged with collaboration with people smugglers

Sicilian prosecutors investigating sea rescue NGOs and charities for alleged complicity in people smuggling have wiretapped several Italian journalists covering the central Mediterranean migration crisis and allegedly exposed their sources.

Prosecutors in Trapani this month charged rescuers from charities including Save the Children and Medecins Sans Frontieres with collaboration with people smugglers after thousands of people were saved from drowning in the Mediterranean.