Hundreds of conversations secretly wiretapped in cases relating to migrant rescue boats in Italy

A journalistic investigation by Italian news broadcaster Rai News and the newspaper Domani revealed that authorities in Italy secretly wiretapped conversations of journalists, lawyers, human rights activists and asylum seekers. Rescuers from charities including Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières were charged in March for aiding the smuggling of asylum seekers. Whistleblowers note that most of the wiretaps are illegal and violate the European convention on human rights. Most severe cases include the wiretapping of conversations between Father Mussie Zerai, a Noble Prize candidate in 2015, and his lawyer as Italian law forbids the interception of conversations under investigation and their lawyers, whose relationship is governed by attorney-client privilege.