MALTA must call off the trial of three young men who prevented the return of 108 refugees to Libya by commandeering their rescuers’ ship two years ago, an alliance of 30 human rights groups demanded today.

On March 26 2019, merchant vessel the El Hiblu 1 picked up 108 people fleeing war-torn Libya across the central Mediterranean.

After taking the people on board, the ship’s captain told them that they would be taken to a European port.

However, the maritime authorities ordered the captain to take the refugees back to where they had come from — an act known in legal terms as refoulement, but more commonly as pushback, and expressly forbidden by international human rights laws.

On hearing that they were to be returned to Libya, the rescued people protested and three teenagers — then aged 15, 16 and 19 — convinced the crew to steer the ship towards Malta, where they were arrested on arrival and accused of multiple crimes, including terrorist acts.

After months behind bars, the El Hiblu 3, as the young men are collectively known, were released on bail in November 2019 and ordered to register at a police station every day.

A trial has been ongoing since their arrest as the Maltese prosecution service seeks to establish what to charge them with.

However, since the proceedings began, only one of the 108 rescued refugees has been called to testify, according to the Free the El Hiblu 3 campaign group.

“It is clear that the Maltese state is trying to make an example of the three accused in order to deter others from protesting pushbacks to Libya,” 30 refugee rights groups said in a joint statement published today.

“The criminalisation of the El Hiblu 3 in Malta is yet another puzzle piece in a systematic attempt to oppress acts of solidarity and dissent at Europe’s borders.

“While we witness how EU member states and institutions continue to break international law through violent pushbacks as well as forms of non-assistance and abandonment, migrants trying to escape from inhumane conditions and those in solidarity with them become criminalised.

“Instead of being prosecuted, the El Hiblu 3 should be celebrated for their actions in preventing the return of 108 precarious lives to Libya.

“Their imprisonment and prosecution constitutes a deep injustice. Resisting illegal pushbacks to Libya is not a crime!”