German captain Carola Rackete, who sparked an international debate after forcibly docking the rescue vessel Sea-Watch 3 in the Italian port of Lampedusa arrived in court in Sicilian town of Agrigento on Thursday.
Rackete will be questioned by the Italian prosecutor on charges of aiding illegal immigration.
Footage shows the 31-year-old swarmed by journalists as she refuses to make any comments to the media on her way to the court.
Rackete, who captained the migrant rescue ship Sea-Watch 3, was detained in Italy after refusing to comply with a ban on entering Italy’s territorial waters. The vessel was carrying more than 40 migrants and after weeks at sea, Rackete decided to port in Lampedusa on June 29, ramming a police boat in the process.
Later, an Italian judge freed Rackete, saying she had not broken the law and that she had been carrying out her duty to protect human life. Despite that, Rackete is also being investigated for aiding illegal immigration and entering Italian waters defying an order to stop.