Relaxing on the rescue ship, captain accused of killing 900
HIS brow may be furrowed in contemplation but his relaxed pose is simply shocking.
For this is the migrant boat captain accused of killing 900 men, women and children in one of the worst maritime disasters since the Second World War.
Tunisian Mohammed Ali Malek, 27, was arrested as soon as he stepped on to Sicilian soil from a rescue boat. He and crewmate Mahmud Bikhit, a 26year- old Syrian, were among only 28 survivors of Saturday night’s tragedy.
Most of the victims, including all the women and children on board, drowned ‘like rats in a cage’ below deck where they had been locked in the hold.
Prosecutors said Malek’s 66ft fishing boat capsized after it mistakenly rammed into a Portuguese container ship that was answering his distress call.
Malek and Bikhit were identified as suspects en route to Sicily from the scene of the disaster 60 miles north of Libya. Dr Giuseppe Pomilla, who took part in the rescue, said: ‘I told him, “You’re the trafficker then”. He said, “No, no”. Then he laughed.
‘We asked him what his name was but it was obvious that he had given the wrong name, as the next time someone asked him he had forgotten it. I have been doing this job so long, I see who the trafficker is straight away. It’s written on their face. They are always in much better shape than the others who are normally exhausted and tired.’
When the rescue ship docked at Malta to unload bodies of 24 victims recovered, Malek could be seen lounging on deck, staring at the coffins. In another picture he appeared to be smirking.
And last night it was reported that he had been smoking cannabis and drinking wine before the tragedy. One survivor told La Repubblica: ‘He was drunk and he smoked hashish while he was at the helm a little while before the boat hit the Portuguese container ship.’
Malek has been charged with multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and aiding illegal immigration. Bikhit was charged with aiding illegal immigration.