Sardinian journalist Emanuela Pala is among the 26 Italian flotilla activists released by Israeli authorities . The charter flight departed from Ramon Airport in Eilat, Israel, and arrived in Turkey at 3:50 PM local time (2:50 PM Italian time). A total of 137 people from the flotilla were on board, including 36 Turkish citizens and 23 Malaysians . The activists were greeted by officials and others at the airport. Also on board were citizens of the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Switzerland, Tunisia, and Jordan. The Italians will now depart for Rome.
"A first group of 26 Italian citizens who were on the Flotilla are about to leave Israel on a charter flight. We've placed them on a Turkish flight to Istanbul. They've already been transferred to Ramon Air Base and will depart from Eilat Airport," Antonio Tajani announced this morning .
Israel, in a defiant statement, announced the "deportation" of 137 "provocateurs." "Another 137 provocateurs from the Hamas-Sumud flotilla were deported to Turkey today . Israel is trying to expedite the expulsion of all provocateurs, but some of them are deliberately obstructing the legal expulsion process ," a Foreign Ministry statement read.
Pala was thus granted immediate release after signing a self-declaration admitting to illegal entry into Israel . Her family, deeply concerned, can breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm proud of her and honored to have a sister like her," said her sister Antonella , intercepted at Elmas airport while departing for Rome, where she will meet Emanuela.
Another 15 Italians remain in Ketziot prison . They refused to sign the voluntary release form and " will have to await judicial expulsion, which will take place next week ," Tajani explained.
Those who remain do so to protect others, explains the movement's Italian spokesperson, Maria Elena Delia : "In this situation , those who return early do so because they choose to accept a fast-track procedure. Those who return do so because it's important to speak out; those who stay do so because, with our privileged passports, they can protect others. These are choices that were agreed upon from the beginning. This is an international and internationalist movement."
Delia also reported, during the press conference with the four parliamentarians released yesterday, that a complaint has been filed with the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the "kidnapping" of the activists .
"They were detained illegally without any legal basis, taken by the Israeli Navy without having committed any crime. They were kidnapped, not arrested because arrest presupposes a criminal offense. In prison, they were denied basic rights of defense and the provision of basic goods and services such as water, food, and access to sanitation ."
(Unioneonline)