NGOs are staging counterattacks after the Trapani prosecutor's office asked for charges to be dropped in the case of the luventa rescue ship.

Claims that the crew of the luventa acted correctly, after being accused of having been a "reference point for traffickers", were strengthened after a request was filed by Prosecutor Maurizio Agnello to drop charges against the 21 defendants.

This is seen as recognition that the ship was not serving as a "taxi of the sea" on June 18, 2017.

The intervention off Libya had instead been conducted under the control of the MRCC, a Rome-based coordination center, the lawyers of the German NGO and owner of the Iuventa, Jugend Rettet, said.

Save the Children expresses 'confidence' in judge's decision

Lawyers Nicola Canestrini, Francesca Cancellaro and Sandro Gamberini underscored the baselessness of the charges that had been proven -- they said -- in part by audio recordings and 250 slides shown in the courtroom.

In addition to asserting the correctness of the crew's behavior, the defense team also lamented that the evidence could have been acquired prior to the hearing.

The prosecution itself noted that the preliminary hearing had been the "longest in the history of the Italian judiciary".

"We are now confidently awaiting the judge's decision," a representative from Save the Children said.

The latter NGO, alongside MSF, has been asked to answer for the rescue operations for migrants in the Mediterranean.

"In the entire investigative file, not only was it impossible to identify any contact -- even of an indirect nature -- between Save the Children members and traffickers, but the commendable professionalism and dedication emerged with which the entire staff of the organisation worked," the representative added.

MSF calls for 'criminalization of sea rescues' to end

"The request for the charges to be dropped is yet another confirmation of the weakness of the accusations. We have always reiterated the full legitimacy of our actions. Saving lives is not a crime and the criminalization of sea rescues must end," commented MSF.

The legal proceedings would have "cost three million (euros)", noted Mediterranean Savings Humans mission chief Luca Casarini.

The judge's decision may come in April. The counterattack by the NGOs will now proceed in part through the request for the release of the Iuventa, which has been used in the past in operations that saved thousands of lives.