By Leigh Mcmanus For Mailonline
Published: 23:13 BST, 11 June 2019 | Updated: 07:21 BST, 12 June 2019
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A German boat captain could face 20 years in prison for allegedly working with smugglers to traffic migrants across the Mediterranean to Italy.
Pia Klemp faces trial in Italy for assisting illegal immigration after her boat was impounded in 2017.
Supporters of the 35-year-old from Bonn hail her as a humanitarian who has been personally responsible for hundreds of rescue missions.
But Italian authorities allege that she colluded with smugglers to collect migrants at Mediterranean rendezvous points and stage rescues at sea.
Pia Klemp is thought to have been personally responsible for up to 1,000 rescue missions
Pictures taken by undercover officers allegedly show human traffickers 'escorting' vessels packed with asylum seekers before they are transferred to aid boats.
Italy, under the influence of far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini, has also moved to ban Klemp from sailing around their coasts all together.
Klemp has been under investigation since her vessel, the Iuventa, was impounded in the summer of 2017.
Speaking to Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung she said she could face 20 years in prison and 'horrendous' fines.
But she insisted she was ready to fight her prosecution all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
She also has the backing of 80,000 people who have signed a petition urging Italy to drop the charges.
The author of the petition said
