An Italian court has found two German charity workers not guilty of aiding illegal immigration. In 2004, the two men allowed 37 African migrants, adrift in a dinghy, to board their ship, the Cap Anamur, in the Mediterranean off Malta.

Italy initially said Malta should accept the migrants but, after three weeks, allowed the ship to dock at an Italian port on humanitarian grounds. The German charity workers were, however, prosecuted and faced possible four-year jail terms and a fine of 400,000 euros.

The charity, Cap Anamur, was founded in 1979 by a German journalist to help refugees. It became famous in the 1980s when it rescued thousands of Vietnamese boat people in the South China Sea.

photo: boat migrants (Flickr / noborder network)