Italy said they extradited the Eritrean smuggler involved in the tragedy of Lampedusa. But some doubt about the identity of the man arrested ...

Since June 8, Medhanie Yehdego Mered asleep behind the bars of the prison in Rome. Or not.Announced with great fanfare by the international press, the arrest of the Eritrean 35, accused of being the head of one of the most important traffic networks of people between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, is questioned by several witnesses.

Arrested on 24 May in Khartoum and extradited to Italy on the night of June 7, the man who appears at the output of the plane, flanked by two carabinieri would actually Medhanie Tesfamarian Berthe, in the family of this another Eritrean, aged 29.

Involved in other dramas

"The checks are being" merely confirm Francesco Lo Voi, the prosecutor of Palermo, who still hopes to have got hold of one who calls himself "the general".The name of Medhanie Yehdego Mered appeared for the first time after the tragedy of Lampedusa which has killed 359 people in late 2013. Accused, after more than two years of investigation, for organizing the journey of several thousands refugees each year since 2012, he faces up to thirty years in prison.

Whatever the currently incarcerated person, this is the first arrest of its kind conducted in Africa since the beginning of the migration crisis in the Mediterranean.Led by the prosecutor of Palermo, responsible for the jurisdiction of Lampedusa, the Glauco operation benefited from the close cooperation of the security services of the countries involved.

Responsibility for the "general" has been established through wiretaps

After collecting the first identifiers on the island, the Italian police requested the assistance of the British National Crime Agency to locate Mered and coordinate his arrest with the forces of the Sudanese order.

Responsibility for the "general" has been established through wiretaps made ​​for months by the Italian secret services. Multiple records confirm its role in the sinking of Lampedusa . He even jokes about the fate of the passengers. "It shows a total indifference to the suffering that can endure migrants" confirms Maurizio Scalia magistrate.

 

The Eritrean appears as a cynical and cold being who only wants to get rich and join his wife and son in Sweden. According to the tapes, Mered appears to have many connections on both sides of the Mediterranean, the countries of the Horn of Africa to those of Scandinavia, via the Netherlands and Libya, of course. According to Italy, 23 other people were arrested by the Sudanese police. Missing the Ethiopian Ghermay Ermias, suspected of being the right arm of Mered.