Arrested fisherman returns to Sicily after paying €35,000 fine
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Sicilian fisherman Rosolino Paternostro was last night reunited with his family in Porto Palo after he forfeited €35,000 towards the Government of Malta for admitting to have fished illegally in Maltese territorial waters.
Paternostro was remanded in custody and held at the Corradino prison as soon as he was charged before Magistrate Lawrence Quintano on July 1. His arrest triggered a reaction of disbelief within the Sicilian and Maltese fishing community for what they defined as “excessive” action taken against the fisherman.
48 year-old Rosalino Paternostro, who spoke to MaltaToday over the phone as he sailed out of Maltese territorial waters early yesterday afternoon, said that he couldn’t wait to hug his 13 year-old daughter who had been constantly crying for him.
“All I can say is that the Maltese authorities have stolen five precious days from my family,” the fisherman said, while thanking the Italian government, the ambassador, the Sicilian regional president and the Mayor of Porto Palo for having stood by him during his ordeal in Malta.
His arrest also led the Italian ambassador to Malta Paolo Andrea Trabalza to defend the rest of the crew aboard the ‘Maria Salvatrice’ while under police escort at Ta’ Liesse in Valletta.
Trabalza physically planted himself on the trawler when the police turned up to tow the boat to Haywharf, challenging them to arrest him.
As the police retreated, Ambassador Trabalza reportedly received a phone call from Home and Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici who assured the diplomat that the order for seizing the trawler and the evacuation of the remaining crew was a “misunderstanding.”
While the legal defence team led by Labour MP Jose’ Herrera negotiated at length with the Attorney General’s office, the police and the Armed Forces over the charges, Rosolino Paternostro received plenty of support from the Maltese fishing community, who regard him as a “highly cooperative colleague” both at sea and also in Sicily.
Ray Bugeja, Secretary of the National Fisheries Cooperative defined Paternostro as a “gentleman,” and expressed his surprise at the way the local authorities handled his case.
He explained that it is a normal thing for Maltese and Sicilian fishermen to cross into each other’s territorial waters.
“We fish, trade and work together,” he said, while adding that if only the Italians had to adopt such a harsh policy towards the Maltese, it would mean that practically half of the Maltese fishing community would be in Italian jails.
Some Maltese fishermen also reportedly used their own local MP’s to put pressure on government for the release of their Sicilian colleague, while meetings were also held at the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment in a bid to secure the immediate release of the fisherman, insisting that the measure was too drastic and excessive.
However, there was little that the Ministry could have done at that point, as the case was referred to court, and a Magistrate had ordered the arrest of the fisherman.
But the Sicilian fisherman’s arrest in Malta also triggered a protest in Sicily against Maltese fish imports, with local exporters having to face cancellation of orders or having their trucks sent back with their cargo.
Maltese yachting enthusiasts and fishermen complain of having been harassed by local police in Sicilian ports who demanded meticulous onboard inspections, and denied their departure if they found the slightest thing not in order.
Gozitan fisherman Peppi Xuereb and 12 members of his family were allowed to leave Pozzallo yesterday afternoon, after he complied with the orders given to him by the Guardia di Finanza to upgrade all the safety features on board his luzzu the ‘Betania’. He was meant to return to Gozo last Sunday.
Sources have confirmed with this paper that a great effort has been made from Rome through the Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Vincenzo Scotti to avoid an escalation of renegade retaliatory measures by individual bodies and corps in the Sicilian harbours towards Maltese.
It is understood that the Undersecretary telephoned the President of the Sicilian Region Raffaele Lombardo for him to instruct Mayors to keep their local authorities in check and not to damage the relations between the two countries.
Also yesterday, the Maltese Director of Fisheries Andrina Fenech Farrugia was mobbed in Sicily by journalists who insisted for a justification on the arrest of Rosalino Paternostro.
When contacted by MaltaToday, Fenech Farrugia asked for questions to be forwarded by email to the Ministry Rural Affairs and the Environment.
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