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| - Italian prosecutors are seeking trials against Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and other NGOs accused of colluding with migrant traffickers and spreading toxic waste, two charities said Wednesday. In a statement, MSF said it had received notices of two separate legal proceedings before courts in Trapani and Catania, both in Sicily. In Trapani, prosecutors concluded investigations against 21 suspects, including four members of MSF plus the organisation itself, a spokesman for the charity told AFP. The closing of an investigation is a procedural step which normally precedes a prosecution request for a full trial -- something that a judge would have to agree to. According to press reports, the Trapani probe concerns migrant rescues conducted by MSF and two other aid groups -- Save the Children and Iuventa -- during 2016-2017. Charity rescuers coordinated their actions with migrant traffickers, agreeing pick up points at sea and turning off their on-board satellite equipment to hide their vessels' movements, the reports said. A spokesman for Save the Children told AFP it was also informed about completion of the investigation in Trapani against some of its employees and former employees, and the organisation itself. The group denied any wrongdoing, saying it acted "solely and exclusively to save lives," and added: "We are confident that the propriety of our work will be confirmed when all the facts have been considered." In Catania, meanwhile, a judge ordered a trial for three MSF staffers and a dock worker accused of trafficking in waste material, the MSF spokesman told AFP. The decision stems from a 2018 investigation in which MSF was accused of disposing potentially toxic waste from two chartered rescue vessels, the Aquarius and Vos Prudence, in breach of safety regulations. MSF dismissed both judicial moves in Trapani and Catania as "adding to the long list of attempts to criminalise sea rescues," and said it was confident that its innocence would be proven in court. Earlier this week, Italian rescue charity Mediterranea was hit by another investigation in Sicily for allegedly taking money from Danish shipping firm Maersk after a migrant rescue mission last year. At the same time, other Italian prosecutors have pressed charges against former interior minister and far-right leader Matteo Salvini for his attempts to keep migrants off Italian shores. Italy faced a major influx of migrants arriving by sea in 2016-2017, the years covered by the Trapani probe. Around 300,000 people arrived during the period, but numbers have fallen dramatically in more recent years. Last year, the country recorded some 35,000 arrivals, up from a low of 11,471 in 2019. aa/ar/pma
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