The leader of the Italian government coalition League party and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has been acquitted after facing six years in prison for blocking an illegal migrant boat from disembarking in 2019.
Judges in Palermo, Sicily dismissed a kidnapping case against Matteo Salvini on Friday after finding that the facts presented by the prosecution did warrant a criminal conviction, broadcaster RAI reports.
Prosecutors alleged that blocking the Spanish ‘Open Arms’ NGO migrant taxi boat from unloading 147 illegals into Italy in 2019 for over two weeks when Salvini served as Interior Minister amounted to kidnapping. They further argued that Salvini’s actions contravened European Union and international regulations on immigration and asylum.
The prosecution also argued that Salvini’s actions were not political in nature. However, Salvini and his defence team asserted that he was merely implementing the government’s policies and thus the will of the voters and therefore the entire government should have been brought to trial, not just Salvini.
Before entering the courtroom in Palermo on Friday, Salvini struck a defiant tone, saying that he is “absolutely proud” of his actions, that they were a fulfillment of promises to the public, and that he would “redo everything”.
“I countered mass immigration and whatever the sentence, for me today is a beautiful day because I am proud to have defended my country,” he said.
Following the verdict, Salvini wrote on X: “ACQUITTED for stopping mass immigration and defending my country. The League wins, common sense wins, Italy wins.”
Salvini had garnered support both home and abroad against what many characterised as a political persecution. Perhaps most importantly, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has steadfastly supported her deputy throughout the process, warning that criminalising moves to protect the nations borders would set a dangerous precedent.
Responding to the verdict, Meloni said: “Defending the Italian borders can never be a crime. The acquittal of Matteo Salvini is great news. Let’s continue together, with tenacity and determination, to fight illegal immigration, human trafficking and defend national sovereignty.
Hurray!”
Populist allies throughout Europe also came to the defence of Salvini, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the leader of Spain’s VOX party Santiago Abascal joining other members of the Patriots for Europe bloc in holding up stylized shirts of a Salvini wanted poster with the caption: “Guilty for defending Italy”.
Ahead of the decision, X owner Elon Musk said that it was “crazy that Salvini is being tried for defending Italy” adding that the Italian populist had done the “right thing” in preventing illegals from entering the country.
The case against Salvini comes as the Meloni government in Rome continues to battle the courts over its Albani plan to send illegal boat migrants to detention centres in the Balkan country rather than allowing them to remain in Italy while their asylum claims are processed.
Stymieing the scheme, Italian judges have claimed that the government does not have the right to contravene EU regulations on what countries are safe to send illegals back home to. The case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.
