In 2019, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was found guilty of kidnapping and dereliction of duty by a Sicilian judge after he refused to allow a Spanish migrant rescue ship to dock in an Italian port, leaving those on board stranded at sea for days. Not guilty.
The case dates back to 2018-19, when Salvini, chairman of the far-right League party, was interior minister during the first government of then Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
One of Salvini’s first actions after taking office was to announce the closure of Italian ports and prohibit rescue ships from participating in rescuing people fleeing Libya. Twenty-five confrontations ensued between rescue ships and Italian authorities, some of which became the focus of investigations.
Earlier in August 2019, Salvini prevented the humanitarian aid ship Open Arms carrying 147 refugees from docking in the port, forcing the ship to anchor near the island of Lampedusa while conditions on board worsened, leading to scabies Outbreak etc. During the standoff, some jumped overboard in despair as the captain pleaded for a safe, closed port.
After 19 days of ordeal, under the orders of the district attorney, the people rescued at sea were finally able to come ashore.
Salvini was forced to resign as interior minister shortly after the incident and was investigated for kidnapping and neglect of duty charges.
“I have kept my promise to fight mass migration and reduce departures, landings and deaths at sea,” Salvini said on Friday before the ruling.
Prosecutors, who had asked for a six-year sentence, argued: “The obligation to save life at sea is a state responsibility and takes precedence over norms and bilateral agreements aimed at combating irregular migration.”
However, after a three-year trial that ended with 24 hearings and included testimony from 45 witnesses, including Hollywood actor Richard Gere, who visited the ship in solidarity during the standoff, A judge in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, did not find the incident unfounded.
Salvini, who currently serves as infrastructure and transport minister and deputy prime minister in a coalition government with Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni’s far-right Brotherhood of Italy party, has always denied the accusations and insisted he was responsible for what he had done. The thing is proud of “defending Italy’s borders”.
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Before the verdict, he rallied supporters for public demonstrations against what he called a “political trial.”
Nationalist politicians across Europe have spoken out on Salvini’s behalf, from France’s Marine Le Pen to Hungary’s Viktor Orban.
Orban tweeted “Justice for Salvini” on Thursday, along with a photo of him and others holding up T-shirts with Salvini’s face on a poster Emblazoned with Salvini’s face.